Minor midgets rolling

win in goal for Lethbridge.

“It was really good today,” said Canes forward Colby Garner. “There were a lot of different guys contributing.”

That effort moves the Hurricanes in a shared spot for first place in the league, something Garner felt is a product of familiarity amongst his team.

“I think it’s because we’re like a group of brothers, we’re like family,” said Garner. “Because we’re so close it’s good on the ice.”

The Hurricanes head into the new week atop the standings, but they’re not alone.

In addition to the Saints, the St Albert Flyers (13-2-2) and Leduc Techmation Oil Kings (13-4-2) are one point back.

In the South, the 12-4-1 Okotoks Oilers are two points back of Lethbridge in second place. The Red Deer North Star Chiefs (11-5-1) — the last team to defeat the Hurricanes — are four points back.

“Every year it’s the same,” said Oster. “You have teams in the South that are very tight. I think one through five is very tight, so we just want to put distance between us and them as much as we can. You can’t take anybody in this league lightly. Every team in this league is the same thing, they're all 15 (year-olds) and have played at a high level the year before. So we have to make sure that we are better every day.”

“This group of kids work really hard. They play well together and we had a really good base to start with. When you have this skill and what not, it’s easy to work with and easy to develop. Our thing is always wanting to make them better. We only ask that they give us their very best every day.”

Which they’ll need with the other teams wanting to knock off the top dogs.

“I think it’s fun because it gives us the opportunity to give our best every game and show what we’re made of,” said Garner.

This year’s minor midgets have enjoyed it’s usual dose of bantam-aged players making the jump to midget.

“We have probably the biggest core group of Bantam AAA that we’ve had at this level in years,” said Oster. “We’re able to capitalize on our opportunities and our depth is really stepping up. But we try to focus on the defensive side of things. The goal is to have, of course, less goals-against than anybody else and by doing that we try to limit shots and play fast in the neutral zone and take away opportunities for the other teams and turning it around into scoring opportunities.”

The Hurricanes are in Cochrane Saturday for a rematch against the Avalanche (5-13-0) and return home Sunday to host the Calgary CBHA Blackhawks in their final game before Christmas at noon at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

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