SUNDRE – Although the U18 Huskies have the skills necessary to lead their division, they’ve been struggling this season to play consistently, putting them in the middle of the pack.
“We’re really struggling with having consistency,” said head coach Jason Martyn.
Their regular season record to date in the Central Alberta Hockey League’s Tier 3 Red division is 14 games with six wins and eight losses for a total of 12 points.
The Huskies are holding fifth place out of nine teams, with New Sarepta in first after 11 games played with eight wins, two losses and a tie for 17 points. Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain House, Sylvan Lake, and Ponoka are all tied at 14 points.
“This division is super tight,” said Martyn. “It can go anywhere still.”
Although the Huskies have no games this coming weekend, the team has only three more matches of regular season play before playoffs. They’ll be on the road the following weekend in Wetaskiwin followed the next by back-to-back games against Rocky with a home game on Feb. 14 and an away game on Feb. 15.
From passing to positioning, the Huskies are a well-rounded team that shines when the players have their minds in the game. For example, the coach said they were able to notch out a victory against New Sarepta – the division’s leading team – only to a few games later suffer defeat at the hands of Maskwacis, which sits at the bottom of the division with 12 games played, one win, 11 losses and two points.
“Consistency and showing up to the arena ready to play hockey,” said Martyn when asked where the team stands to improve, adding the Huskies have also endured “a lot of injuries.”
Provided they can maintain their momentum, the coach sounded confident about their playoff chances.
“It’s the consistency of our entire team … that is going to determine the rest of our season,” he said. “They have the skill set they have the tools – they just got to use them.”
The Huskies’ latest action was this past weekend on Jan. 24-26 at the Sundre Arena during the team’s annual home tournament, which including the hosts featured eight squads – the Barrhead Renegades, Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, Vermillion Tigers, Whitecourt Wolverines, St. Albert, Calgary Knights and the Ponoka Stampeders.
“It was very competitive,” the coach said.
Friday night’s opening game against Barrhead went into overtime with the Huskies narrowly being defeated 3-2.
Barrhead went onto win the A final against Calgary.
Hockey fans were treated to another intense match on Friday night after the Huskies played when Whitecourt and Ponoka ended up going into three overtimes and a shootout which the latter ultimately won.
The Huskies ended up playing against Fort Saskatchewan on Sunday in the D Final, which they won 7-5.
Although organizers had not yet finished sifting through the numbers on Monday morning when he spoke with the Albertan, Martyn said the fundraiser went well.
“The 50-50s were really high – like crazy outstanding high,” he said. “There had to be a lot of people coming through the arena this weekend.”
Martyn expressed gratitude for the community’s support from the sponsors and the fans to all of the volunteers who helped ensure the tournament ran smoothly.
The U9 Huskies will be hosting their own home tournament on Feb. 7-9.
