The Sundre Minor Hockey Association’s peewee squad was “pretty pumped” about hosting five teams for an action-packed weekend, said head coach Corey Burwell during a phone interview.
Visiting the local arena were teams from Cremona, Calgary, Airdrie, Mannville as well as Olds, with each getting the opportunity to play three games.
The Sundre Huskies won their first game against Airdrie on Friday night, and went on to beat Mannville on Saturday to secure a spot in the A final on Sunday against Cremona, a tier 3 team that ended up winning the tournament with a score of 7-3.
“They’re a higher-tiered team than us,” said Burwell.
“The boys actually really made them work for their win.”
Funds raised during the event help to cover or at least offset the costs and fees of going on the road to compete in other tournaments as well as to pay for ice time at the arena, he said.
“We’re kind of hoping that we make it to provincials, so that’ll help on that part,” he said about the fundraising efforts that facilitate such trips.
The team has really been coming around since just before the holidays, he said. Previously, some of the players had been spending a little too much time in the penalty box, but they’ve since “smartened up” substantially, he added.
“We’ve only lost two of the last seven (regular season) games since we turned things around.”
The peewee Huskies completed their pre-season rounds to place in the Central Alberta Hockey League’s tier 4 at their level, he said.
While the squad has been improving all around this season, the coach said he has especially observed growth on the defensive side. Some members of the team who had never previously played defence have been performing really well — especially Terry Wolfe, who despite no prior experience on the defensive line has come up as the Huskies’ top defenceman, he said.
During practice, coaching staff have been focused on drills to build stronger lines while encouraging players to work more as a team “instead of letting everybody play everywhere,” he said.
That includes ensuring “three of my top forwards are together instead of having them split up.”
Seeing the players grow and develop their abilities and playing a role in making that possible keeps the coach passionate about volunteering to continue working with them.
“The biggest thing I like is watching the kids and teaching them how to become better players.”
