SUNDRE – Eight hockey squads including the hosting U15 Sundre Huskies competed both on and off the ice this weekend.
Running in tandem with the team’s annual home tournament that took place at the Sundre Arena on Nov. 15-17 was a challenge to see who could raise the most donations in a food drive supporting the McDougal Chapel’s Emergency Plus One food hamper program.
The teams of course included the hosts as well as the Okotoks Oilers, Edmonton Oil Kings, Strathmore Storm, Cremona Cowboys, Invermere Rockies, Medicine Hat Hounds and the Strathcona Warriors.
Overall, the teams’ combined efforts yielded 471 items, said Dani Bird, Sundre Minor Hockey Association’s fundraising coordinator.
“It has been a great weekend,” said Bird.
“We are blown away again by the travelling teams’ generosity and support for McDougal Chapel’s Plus One food program,” she said, noting that Okotoks won first place in the food drive competition after bringing in 136 items.
“Sundre was the runner up with 114 food items,” she said, adding Invermere came in with 69 while Strathmore had 67, Edmonton 37, Medicine Hat 31, and Strathcona 17 while Cremona did not have any.
“We are incredibly proud to support our local charity and give back to the community.”
On the ice, the Huskies found themselves facing off against Cremona during the bronze medal match, said head coach Tim Kennedy.
“We were winning right up ’til last few minutes of the game,” said Kennedy, adding the Huskies ended up struggling toward the end as a result of some penalties and were narrowly defeated by only one goal with 5-4 final score.
But considering the outcome of an exhibition game earlier this season against the same team that saw Cremona come out ahead with a 12-3 victory, the Huskies substantially narrowed down that gap.
“We can compete with them. I’m sure we can beat them next time,” he said, adding that a few of the teams that were in the tournament are also in the Huskies tier in the Central Alberta Hockey League.
The competition this past weekend was well balanced, with the team from Invermere outperforming the rest of the pool, ultimately placing first with Okotoks taking second.
“They were a little bit stronger,” the coach said, adding despite having an edge, the Rockies didn’t completely run away with their wins.
With tiering over, the coach said regular season play was expected to get started this coming weekend.
“We’ll hold our own,” he said, adding the Huskies improve with every chance they get to be on the ice.
Check the association’s social media for updates as schedules become available.
