The Springbank Park For All Seasons was abuzz with hockey as the Springbank Rockies hosted the Hockey Alberta Midget B Provincial Championships over the course of Mar. 10-13.
Rockies went into the ten-team tournament knowing they had as good a chance as anyone to win gold, but racked up a 4-1 record, as they unfortunately fell in the semi-finals to eventual champions Calgary Saints.
“We were playing against the best teams in Alberta, and our goal was to somehow make our way to the final,” said Rockies head coach Jason Martin. “I felt as a team if we worked hard enough, we had a chance. We’re not a spectacular team, but we’re a good one, if we’re all firing on the same cylinders.”
Rockies opened up the tournament with their biggest win of the weekend, thumping La Crete Lumberjacks 11-6, with forward Caelan Van Olm recording a hat-trick. Dylan Jacober, Scott Bahcheli, and Nicholas Derhun all grabbed two goals apiece.
The team continued their streak with a 4-2 win over Olds 1, and 5-2 victory against South West Zone Oil Kings on Mar. 11, before sealing up first-place in Pool A with a another 5-2 win over Vermilion Tigers on Mar. 12.
“Hockey is like any other sport,” Martin said. “Sometimes you get bounces, others you don’t. The score in the first game was pretty abnormal, and the other group games were tighter and more normal scores.”
Rockies met Saints (3-1, 2nd Pool B) on Mar. 13 for a shot at the gold medal game. Despite a three-point performance from Van Olm (two goals, one assist), as well as a goal from Evan Fenton, the team lost 7-3.
“It wasn’t so much that (Saints) were better than us, it was that we took penalties and it cost us the game,” Martin said. “They were a very good team and we had to be perfect to beat them. We weren’t.
“Hockey is a game played on emotion and adrenaline. That’s the way results go. If a team gets up on the other one by a couple goals, it can be all over early. You can get a couple breaks and it depends on what happens that day. For us though, the lose was ultimately our own fault.”
