By / Darren Bayrack
Four Calgary-area teams kicked off their hockey seasons with the annual Atom Fall Freeze Tournament October 20-23 at Crowchild Twin Arena.
The host Crowchild Atom 5 Thunderhawks skated to the championship by downing the Springbank 6 Storm 4-2 in a well played ‘A’ final.
The Hawks entered the final with a 2-1 record from the round robin portion of the tournament that also showcased the Elbow Park 4 Snipers and Midnapore 6 Snipers.
In the ‘A’ final, Crowchild got off to a fast start when Tobias Funk opened the scoring just a minute into the game.
Springbank responded with 7:55 left in the first period when a puck off of Raees Lackan’s stick rolled down Crowchild goalie Grant Norton’s left pad and found its way inside the post.
Despite standing just below the crossbar in skates and gear, Norton made several key saves to pace the Thunderhawks to the victory. Proud mom Carol Norton, the tournament organizer, credits her son’s style to a mix of gymnastics training and traditional goaltender methods.
True to the early back and forth action, Crowchild jumped ahead 2-1 in the second period when Conner Thoreson netted a goal. Springbank responded when Raees Lackan scored his second goal of the game from Cole Zivkusic and Kyran Lackan.
The Crowchild Thunderhawks put the game away in the third period with goals from Carter Malyk and Funk’s second goal of the night.
Crowchild head coach Harold Bergmann had nothing but praise for his kids after the tournament. “It’s early in the season, but these guys have really impressed me,” he explained. “They are looking for passes, they are not always thinking ‘let me take the shot’. They are looking for each other out there which is pretty impressive for nine and 10-year-olds this early in the year.”
Springbank Storm head coach Dave Black was pleased with the tournament and his team’s effort in the final game. “They played absolutely unbelievable, it was great,” he said. “We are all about teamwork for sure, that’s the most important thing. I mean, after a loss like tonight we were still positive with the kids and they were happy; winning or losing they are still happy.”
The Fall Freeze tournament is intended to get the players together for some friendly competition prior to the opening of the season and the final games were topped off with medal presentations and pizza. “You look at the tables and you can’t really tell which is the winning team and which is the losing team, they are just both having a lot of fun,” Bergmann said.
“That’s the way it should be.”
Earlier, the Midnapore Snipers skated to a 7-1 win over the Elbow Park Snipers in the ‘B’ final thanks in part to two goals from Mitchell Baird and two point nights by Daniel Boulter, Iain Hopkins and Eric Goodwin. Patrick Sabine scored the lone goal for Elbow Park.
Scores from the round robin portion of the tournament are as follows: Crowchild 5 Elbow Park 0, Springbank 6 Midnapore 3, Crowchild 5 Springbank 2, Midnapore 5 Elbow Park 0, Midnapore 3 Crowchild 2, Springbank 6 Elbow Park 1. |
