SUNDRE – The U15 Sundre Huskies is holding a home tournament this weekend, giving the team some added experience and fundraising opportunities.
The tourney starts Friday, Nov. 15 and ends Sunday, Nov. 17. The team is conducting a food drive for the Plus One emergency food hamper program at McDougal Chapel.
With early season tiering games almost done when he spoke with the Albertan, the head coach of the Sundre U15 Huskies said the hockey team was shaping up to be a well-rounded squad.
“We’re right in the middle of the pack where we expected to be,” said Tim Kennedy on Thursday, Nov. 7.
Kennedy, who is also the Sundre Minor Hockey Association’s coach coordinator, said the team of 14 players has six wingers, two centres, four defencemen and two netminders.
Their last tiering game was scheduled for last weekend at the Sundre Arena on Saturday evening.
“I think we’re going to be okay this year. We got a pretty good, rounded team,” he said.
Even though there are only four second-year players, the coach said they’re already largely familiar not only with one another but also expectations on the ice during both games and practices.
“We’ve been coaching this same bunch for four years now,” he said. “So when we go out on the ice, they know exactly what to expect.”
With tiering rounds finished as of this past weekend, the team was looking forward to soon starting its regular season with the Central Alberta Hockey League.
But first, the U15 Huskies had plans to host a home tournament this coming weekend with two teams coming out from B.C. and another from Edmonton, he said, adding the first game starts this coming Friday with the puck drop at 4 p.m.
Regular league play will then get underway the following week, he said, adding it was tough to predict this early on in the season how things might pan out.
But the coach nevertheless expressed confidence in his team.
“We’re going to do well,” he said. “We have some returning players that really are dominating, and some of the newer players are just fitting right in.”
In an effort to provide additional player development opportunities, Kennedy said efforts were also underway to line up arrangements for another Power Edge Pro clinic some time over the Christmas break, but that specific dates were still be figured out.
