OLDS — The Olds Midget AA Grizzlys are on a high after winning the Cactus Cup Under 18 hockey tournament in Phoenix, Ariz.
They beat Golden State Elite 3-0 in the final on Monday, Jan. 20. The tournament ran from Jan. 17-20.
Head coach Ron Doig says they made the trip down there because several players on the team are in their last year of Midget AA eligibility and the parents wanted to give them a special experience and memory.
Fourteen teams were in the Grizzlys’ group. They ended up in third place after the round robin.
They beat the San Jose Jr. Sharks 3-0 in the semifinal, which propelled them into the final.
“We were probably better than every team we played,” Doig said in an interview. “There were a couple of challenges, but – a couple of good goalies we played against.”
He was especially impressed with the San Jose Jr. Sharks goaltender. They played them twice – once in the round robin, then in the semifinal.
“He was a very good goaltender, so he kind of got to us a couple of games.”
Doig said strong defence was key to the Grizzlys’ success.
“Our defence was solid,” he said. “We didn’t give up many shots at all in the tournament.
“I think in one game we only gave up eight shots total and in the other one I think we were at nine, I believe, so it’s not like we gave up a lot of chances.”
Doig said the Grizzlys were strong on offence too, but just couldn’t score as much as he thought they could.
“Offensively we were pretty solid. I think we struggled to score a lot. I mean, there were a couple of games where we had over 60 shots.
“In the round robin we beat San Jose 2-1 and we outshot them I think it was 66-9 or something. So we definitely could have had some better offensive output,” he said.
“For the whole weekend I don’t think we scored as much as our chances and our abilities were, that’s for sure.”
Doig is hopeful that winning the championship will give the Grizzlys a boost as they head into the final weeks of the season.
“I think really our issue all year is we haven’t been able to put the puck in the net as much as we should, so maybe this tournament win will give us some confidence moving forward here for the next six weeks and you know, give us a little boost and get us going here for the rest of the year,” he said.
