With the regular season done for local minor hockey and playoff rounds wrapping up, many Lac La Biche Minor Hockey skaters enjoyed some time off the ice recently, catching an Edmonton Oil Kings game, and visiting with Lac La Biche Oil Kings player Ismail "Izzy" Abougouche.
Although Izzy was a healthy scratch for the game — and the Oil Kings lost a high-scoring tilt to Medicine Hat 9-7 — the teams enjoyed the experience at Roger's Place, including a meet-and-greet with Abougouche where the six-foot-three, 200-pound defenceman was happy to pose for a group photo and sign autographs.
Izzy and the Oil Kings wrap up their regular season of the Western Hockey League at Roger's Place on March 24 against the Red Deer Rebels.
Back on home ice in recent days, the Lac La Biche U11 Clippers hosted the first round of a double-elimination playoff series against the Cold Lake Ice and the Mallaig Monarchs. The Ice went on from the weekend games to the next playoff round in the Northeaster Alberta Hockey League.
Plamondon league champs
In Plamondon, the U13 Cougars came out of their weekend as league champs, beating Athabasca in two-straight to take the U13 Tier 5 Northeastern Alberta Hockey League banner.
The U18 Cougars lost their best-of-three league championship series to Toefield in overtime of the deciding game on Sunday night. The 3-2 loss came on the heels of a 5-2 win over the Titans in game two and a 7-1 loss in the series opener.
Although the minor hockey seasons are over, ice time at local arena continues through the spring and summer months with several conditioning camps and training sessions offering on-ice and dry land training.
