The Innisfail Bantam Female Flyers claimed gold at the Hockey Alberta provincial championship in Cold Lake March 14-17.
After losing to the Olds Grizzlys the girls fought back with four straight wins to beat out the Onoway Eagles for the top spot in the province.
“Look what they can accomplish,” said Darlene Thompson, team manager for the Flyers. "They need to be very proud of themselves.”
First the 13 to 14-year-olds coached by Kerry Burgar had to qualify for the tournament, beating Hobbema and Locoka to become Zone 4 champions.
“They were up for it,” Thompson said. “They came together as a team and they all got along.”
The Flyers had beaten Hobbema by more than 10 points in January and knocked off Locoka (a mixture of players from Lacombe and Ponoka) soon after, a squad that had beaten out the team from Winfield.
The girls got packed and ready to go, travelling to Cold Lake in separate vehicles during time off school.
“It's kind of a stressful time for the girls,” she said. “They've got to miss work and miss school.”
The team started off the provincials with a bang, beating the Beaverlodge Blades 6-1 during the 1 p.m. match Thursday, March 14.
“I think the girls really stepped up to the plate,” she said. “That was one feat. Now let's move onto the next.”
The next day the scene wasn't quite so pleasant for the Flyers, as they took on what they knew to be their biggest competition – their rivals – the Olds Grizzlys.
Alexandra Eyjolfson scored the only goal of the game for the Grizzlys just one second into the game, assisted by Kelly Leonard.
“They just got a lucky goal in my opinion,” Thompson said. “They were a stronger team than us. That day we played against each other we were neck and neck.”
The loss stung a bit, but the girls refocused in time to take on the Calgary Avalanche that evening. Makenna Doel put one between the posts in the first period to put the Flyers back on a roll once again, with captain Jordyn Burgar on the assist. The scoreboard showed a 5-2 victory for the Flyers when all was said and done.
To finish off the four-game round robin, the girls from Innisfail had to play the Fort McMurray Oil Barons March 16. Faith Gette, Hope Holbein, Taylor Blais and Doel scored during the game. But they were also up against a feisty team. In fact the Oil Barons racked up 24 penalty minutes compared with the Flyers' four minutes in the box.
"That's what that game was like,” Thompson said. "They were doing their best to get under our skin.”
Despite the rough game the Flyers were triumphant, winning 6-1.
The Flyers were neck and neck with the Camrose Cubs at the end of three periods during the semifinal matchup. Ending regular time at 3-3 the opponents headed into overtime.
“We scored in the last two minutes of the 10-minute overtime,” she said. “It was a super, super game.”
On the other side of things the Grizzlys lost their semifinal match to the Onoway Eagles. That game had also gone into overtime because of a 3-3 score.
The gold medal game against the Eagles was smooth sailing for the Flyers.
“We just seemed stronger,” she said. “We just had more drive.”
Flyers goalie Chloe Altenhofen was solid in her office between the posts.
Doel scored in the first with an assist from Hope McKnight. Gette put one away on an assist from Burgar. Breanna Donnelly grabbed the next two, both on a pass from Hailey Senger-Essex.
As the game came to a close, cheering exploded from the Flyers' bench. The girls got gold medals and skated around the ice with an official banner to hang in Innisfail.
"It's a huge honour,” Thompson said. “Some players never even get to go to provincials.”
