SUNDRE – The Sundre Minor Hockey Association’s U18 Huskies opted to ante up the stakes a bit this season.
After initially being placed in Central Alberta Hockey League’s Tier 3 Weak division, the squad later decided to contest the league officials’ decision and was approved to play in the Tier 3 Strong division, said coach Jason Martyn.
Although the team had originally agreed to play in the lower division, the Huskies’ performance at a post-tiering tournament in Bashaw against Tier 3 and 2 Strong squads got the coaches reconsidering, said Martyn.
While the Huskies didn’t notch out any victories, both games they played – one against Cochrane and another against Lethbridge – were down-to-the-last-minute nail-biters that they barely lost by just one goal, the coach said.
“Then, we evaluated the play of our team and how much they’ve improved since tiering and how much they’re improving every game – we ended up appealing to be transferred to Strong 3 through CAHL, and they granted us that,” he said.
“It’s more competitive hockey – it keeps the kids engaged.”
Judging by their first two, regular season games leading up to this past weekend’s action, the decision certainly seemed warranted.
In their first game against Strathmore, the Huskies swept the competition aside to win 13-1, and although their second contest against Ponoka was a much closer spread, they went onto win by shutout with a 2-0 final score.
They played two games this past weekend on home ice at the Sundre Arena on Friday and Saturday nights against Wetaskiwin and Battle River, suffering a 9-4 loss against the former but going onto notch a 6-2 victory against the latter.
That brought their season’s regular league play record to a total of four games with three wins and one loss.
And after barely being able to get their season started in the first place following a scramble to secure a goalie until Carter Nielsen stepped up, the Huskies have now recruited a second netminder called Ayden Hilsenteger, he said.
“He’s originally out of San Jose, California,” said Martyn, adding Hilsenteger has more recently been living with his uncle in Innisfail.
Hilsenteger had been playing hockey in the Innisfail and Red Deer County area but was looking for an opportunity to play full-time and ultimately chose to join the pack with the Huskies, the coach said.
The goaltenders each take turns playing one full game at a time so they both get an equal share of ice time, he said.
For his part, Nielsen, who came up into the minor hockey association from the recreational league, has been “doing exceptional,” said Martyn.
“The improvement that he’s shown from the start of the season until now is leaps and bounds,” he said. “There’s a lot of determination to advance and prove himself. It helps when you’re trying to teach a kid when they have that natural ability, that natural drive to improve.”
Innate talent can only take someone so far, he said.
“I always tell the boys that hard work and heart will outdo talent, if talent doesn’t have hard work or heart.”
The team overall is performing well and seems to be improving with each game since the start of tiering, and the coach hopes the Huskies maintain that momentum through to the end of the season.
They play until just days before Christmas and return from the holiday break shortly after the New Year on Jan. 3, he said.
