When the provincial championships begin in Three Hills this weekend, Boyle’s bantam Blazers team will set out to prove they have saved their best for last.
Competing in Pool B at the event alongside the Oyen Bees, Calmar Cobras and Raymond Ice, the Blazers will battle for the chance to make it to the playoff round.
If they make it that far, they will meet up against teams from Coronation, Beaverlodge, Kneehill and nearby Athabasca for the provincial championship.
They will certainly try to improve upon their first-round exit from their league playoffs, though the absence of a few kids due to illness contributed to that result, according to head coach Mark Kilar.
They were full value in making it to provincials, however, with wins over Lac La Biche, Smoky Lake and Vermilion.
Of those teams, Smoky Lake gave Boyle the most trouble. The Blazers dismissed the other two handily in one game each.
In order to have any kind of success at provincials, the Blazers will need to put all of that behind them and focus on each game, period to period, shift to shift.
“We feel good, but we’ve got to play the games first,” noted the coach.
One advantage the team might have over their counterparts at provincials is experience. Three kids on the team have been to these events a whopping five times, as has their head coach. The rest of the kids have also made the trip at least once, and some as many as three times, with the exception of one first-timer who is playing his first season of hockey.
Having experience is key because the kids will know what to expect, and that is a grueling weekend. Teams play three games in their pool alone, and play even more if they make it to the playoff round.
The Blazers recently competed at a tournament in Camrose during which they played five games over the course of a weekend. They hope that experience will have prepared them for a long run this weekend.
“They should know what to do,” said Kilar.
The Blazers have gelled as a team this year, according to their coach, and that alone gives them a real chance at having success.
“They’re a team that really gets along well. I think that’s probably our biggest asset. They work for each other really hard,” said the coach.
“No one kid is going to do everything for us. We’re going to go down there with the attitude that we’ve got to win as a team.”
The team has received plenty of support from local well-wishers and Boyle School even threw them a pep rally.
Once the first puck drops in Three Hills, it’ll be up to the Boyle boys to show what they can do on a grand stage.
Last year’s bantam team made it to the playoff round, and that’s the goal once again, but they know it won’t be easy.
“Getting into the playoffs is key. Anything can happen after that,” noted the coach.
“If we get it rolling and get a good feel for it, I think we can do some damage this year.”
