Moose Jaw Blackhawks take top spot in U11B AtoMc Tournament
Solid showing sees local squad emerge with championship for first time in more than five years
The Moose Jaw Blackhawks couldn’t have asked for a better showing than what they put together in the U11 B division of the annual Moose Jaw Minor Hockey AtoMc Tournament during the Jan. 17 weekend. Quite literally.
The Blackhawks rolled to a 6-0 record through the event, including a 6-3 win over the Northeast Rebels in the championship final on Sunday afternoon, to become the first Moose Jaw team to win the tournament in over five years.
Randy Palmer - Moose Jaw Express
Things got off to a great start for the Blackhawks in their tournament opener, as they rolled to a 9-1 victory over the Lumsden Monarchs. That set the stage for a trio of close wins through the rest of the round robin, including a 5-2 victory over the Saskatoon Red Wing Bulldogs, 3-1 win over the Northeast Rebels and 4-1 defeat of the Regina Panthers.
That gave the Blackhawks a 4-0 record and first place in their preliminary pool.
Next up were the Estevan Bruins in the semifinal, and Moose Jaw kept things rolling with an 8-3 victory to put themselves in the gold medal game.
There, it was a rematch of their closest contest of the round robin, but the Blackhawks were up to the task and rolled to their three-goal win.
The Blackhawks’ sweep was just one of a series of solid showings for local teams at the event.
The U11 B Wolfpack posted a 4-0 preliminary round, but lost the semifinal to the
aforementioned Rebels -- who spoiled what would have been an all-Moose Jaw final -- and then lost the bronze medal game to Estevan.
The U11 B Toros posted a 3-1 round robin but just missed the playoffs.
In the U11 C division, the Yetis finished 0-3-1 and the Badgers capped their weekend at 0-4.