SUNDRE – The U11 Huskies found themselves facing off for a chance to win gold at their home tournament fundraiser over the past weekend.
Although they ultimately placed second to earn a silver medal, the final match against the Lethbridge Lightning – who won the Jan. 5-7 tournament at the Sundre Arena – was a close one.
“It was an excellent game,” said Megan Elsliger, team manager.
Both squads scored numerous back-and-forth goals, but the Lightning were able to put the puck past the Huskies’ netminder a few more times to win 8-5.
“Our kids battled really, really hard,” said Elsliger.
The bronze medal round was a battle between the teams from Wetaskiwin and Coaldale, with the former earning a bronze medal finish, she said.
Overall, there including the hosts were eight teams playing throughout the weekend.
The other squads hailed from St. Albert, Red Deer, Carstairs as well as Bow Island, she said.
“They really enjoyed Sundre and our tournament,” Elsliger said about the feedback she heard from all of the visitors.
“It was so much fun,” she said, adding the raffle table as well as 50-50 ticket sales were “super successful.”
Overall, the U11 Huskies’ regular season in Central Alberta Hockey League play is also going well, she said.
“Our team, I’m just so proud of them,” she said, adding it’s the first U11 squad the Sundre Minor Hockey Association has been able to field since 2019, the year prior to the pandemic.
This season is largely a foundational year with a bit of a learning curve to rebuild the young team, but the kids are having a blast, she said.
“I’m really excited for where next year’s going to bring us,” she added.
So, although the team is very young and inexperienced with only a couple of players who previously had lots of time on the ice playing hockey, they’re nevertheless performing well and are among their sub-tier’s top ranked squads, she said.
“Even our losses feel like wins,” she said, adding the Huskies have largely either had very competitive games or outright dominated the opposition.
“We’ve definitely come such a long way.”