The peewee B Huskies hosted five teams during the weekend’s home tournament, which was well organized and went off without a hitch, said the squad’s coach.
"The tournament went really well,” said Perry Smeets, who has been coaching with the Sundre Minor Hockey Association for three years.
The local team played three games, losing its first against Olds, winning the second against the Airdrie Black Knights, and coming up short in the B final against St. Albert. The Calgary McKnight Mustangs won the A final, he said.
The hosts heard numerous positive comments from members of visiting teams, who praised the tournament as well as the number and variety of items available for the silent auction fundraiser, he said.
Support from the business community for all of the association’s tournaments is crucial to making the events successful, he said.
"They’ve done a fantastic job,” he said, expressing gratitude for those who consistently continue to sponsor the events.
"They do a phenomenal job,” he said. There are six teams that each host a tournament, and "we’re all approaching the same businesses time after time, and they’re always there. It’s good to see, especially in a small community.”
Parent volunteers who take on a variety of roles are also an important part of making possible the tournaments, he said.
Additionally, fan support also plays an important role in helping to pump up and energize the players, who like when a crowd comes out to cheer, he said.
Meanwhile, there are only about eight games remaining in the tier 6 team’s regular season in the Central Alberta Hockey League, which including the Huskies, has six teams.
"We’re in the middle of the pack,” the coach said last week, adding the team’s record was sitting at two wins, two losses and three ties.
That means a run at finals is anything but guaranteed.
"If they want to make the playoffs, they got to pull up their socks a little!”
The squad is slowly but surely starting to gel more as a team and getting the players to fuse remains an ongoing work in progress, but the coach expressed confidence that they have the potential to excel when they put their minds to it.
"We’ve got some skilled players,” he said, adding coaching staff tend to focus more time helping underdeveloped players improve their budding abilities on the ice.
"We try to bring up their skill levels to mesh with the others.”
Positioning is a big part of practice, as is getting the players accustomed to routines and building up their muscle memory so reactions become second nature, he said.
