WESTLOCK – The Westlock U18 Warriors will look to achieve the second and final goal they set for themselves at training camp and earn a gold medal when they host the Alberta U18 Tier 2 Hockey Provincial Championships this coming weekend.
Alberta’s top eight teams will take to the Rotary Spirit Centre ice March 31 to April 3 for the 15-game tournament and coach Paul Olsen says they’re squarely focused on playing in the Sunday-night final and adding another provincial championship banner to the rafters. The Warriors’ first game is versus Irvin at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, March 31, with Game 2 against Spirit River set for 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 1. The club’s final game of the round robin is on Saturday, April 2, at 1:30 p.m. versus Devon.
Due to Hockey Alberta COVID-19 rules, there will be separate opening ceremonies held during the first four games of the event.
“At the start of the year there were two things we wanted to do: win league and win provincials. We’ve done one and now we want to do the second,” he said.
The club toiled in the Northern Alberta Interlock Tier 1-2 League this winter, posting a 9-6 mark to claim the regular-season crown. In the league final, the Warriors downed Edson in a tight three-game series that saw the Warriors take Game 1, 3-2, then fall 5-1 in Game 2. Game 3, played March 13 in Westlock was as tight as they come as the Warriors prevailed 5-4 in a shootout. Olsen said although they had a spot in provincials as the host club, the boys wanted to earn their berth and battled hard to get it.
“As soon as we got the bid, we had a discussion with the kids and they agreed that we wanted to get there the right way by winning league,” said Olsen.
Pre-scouting for provincials is a near-impossible task as rarely, if ever, do the clubs get to see each other during the regular season. That said they have seen Edson, who pushed them to the brink, so Olsen knows his club will have to be at the top of their game. The Warriors will carry 15 skaters at the tournament, plus two goalies.
“You never really know what you’re going to face. But overall, it’s usually a fairly-even tournament as far as the competition goes and I expect this one to be the same.”
This will be the final tournament for seven Warriors who are in their final year of minor hockey eligibility and probably the last behind the bench for Olsen, who’s been coaching for at least the last 14 years. He said he’s been with most of this bunch throughout their minor hockey careers and would love nothing more than to see them celebrate a championship at home.
“I remember I had to carry some of them around the ice during a practice when they were little kids,” he said with a chuckle. “We have a solid group of boys who have stayed here in Westlock … there’s a number who had the skill and the potential to have gone on to a higher association at any given time but they decided to stay, which is cool.”
With COVID-19 restrictions all but gone, the RSC has been rocking throughout March for a variety of events ranging from the men’s bonspiel to the ringette provincials and the 1A zone basketball championships — a vendors’ market is also planned for Saturday, April 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the main lobby of the RSC.
Olsen, who gave a huge thanks to long-time team manager and organizing committee chair Mandy Pipke and her group, the parents, volunteers, and event sponsors, is inviting the community down to the RSC to cheer the boys on. He also said they’re hosting a “fill the net” event for the food bank all weekend and are asking people to bring non-perishable items.
“It’s going to be a really good weekend, we’re all looking forward to it,” he said.
