Wildcats eye return to playoff round
The Westman Wildcats have put themselves in a position to once again contend for the female division title at the Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament.
One year ago, the Wildcats fell 1-0 in semifinal action to the eventual champion Edmonton Thunder.
“It was a close game,” recalled captain Jaycee Wallace, who has competed at the Mac’s with the Wildcats for four straight years. “We were hoping to go right to the finals. We’re just going to try and do better this year.”
Wallace had two goals and an assist on Sunday as the Wildcats blanked the Peace Country Storm 3-0 at the Max Bell Centre to improve their record to 2-0-1.
“She managed to carry us this game and she’s done that all year for us,” said Westman coach Guy Williams. “She’s a goal scorer and likes to throw her team on her back.”
Wallace scored the first of her two goals with just 15.1 seconds remaining in the opening frame.
“Our first period wasn’t the best, so we thought we should get something going and finish the period off on a strong note,” Wallace said.
Ashton Bell scored during a power play in the middle frame before setting up an insurance goal by Wallace. Goalie Amber Tilbury stopped all 13 shots she faced.
With a victory over the Red Deer Chiefs on Monday (8 a.m., Max Bell #2), the Wildcats will earn a return trip to the playoff round at the Mac’s.
“Win, we’re in,” Williams said. “Lose, the hockey gods will make decisions after that.”
Based in the town of Hartney, the Wildcats are made up of players from across southwestern Manitoba.
“You’ve probably never heard of it,” said Wallace, referring to the town of about 450 people. “We have a home rink and home dressing room in Hartney.”
Most fans attending the annual tournament may be hard pressed to find Hartney on a map, but they can’t deny the talent of the team that plays in the Manitoba Female Midget AAA Hockey League.
“Our expectation for this tournament is that we’re going to have good competition,” Williams said. “We have a pretty heavy schedule and we hope that we’re going to get pushed when we come here.”
Keats leads way in Phantom win
After skating to a 1-1 draw with the Wildcats on Saturday, the Fraser Valley Phantom (3-0-1) downed the Calgary Bruins 6-4 on Monday morning at Max Bell.
Brianna Keats led the way with two goals, while Shannon Morris-Read, Chelsea Wilson, Amanda Pollock and Gabrielle Roy also scored.
Madison Brittner had a goal and two assist for the Bruins, while Keely Sommers scored twice.
Hectic day for Bruins
A power outage at the Max Bell Centre on Friday turned into a hectic experience for the Calgary Bruins on Sunday.
With the Bruins leading the Red Deer Chiefs 1-0 late in the first period on Friday and a winter storm raging outside, the power went out at Max Bell causing the “Fill the Rink with Pink” game to be postponed.
After a day off, the Bruins re- turned to Max Bell for a Sunday morning game against the Fraser Valley Phantom.
Following a 6-4 loss to the Phantom, the Bruins didn’t have much time to regroup as they headed to the Village Square Arenas later that night to finish up the postponed game against the Chiefs.
Leading 1-0 already on a firstperiod goal by Madison Brittner, the Bruins extended their lead to 4-0 through two periods as Kaitlyn Bauer, Madison Laurin and Bethan Wilson scored.
Mairead Bast of the Chiefs finally broke Calgary goalie Dayna Owen’s shutout bid at 9:11 of the third period, but the Bruins hung on for a 4-1 win. Owen finished the game with 29 saves.
The power outage also resulted in the postponement of Friday’s male division game between the Calgary Royals and Alaska Junior Aces.
That contest will resume on Monday night (8:30 p.m., Max Bell) with the two teams tied 2-2 in the second period.