The Boyle Blazers bantam hockey team had a weekend they’ll never forget as they went undefeated to win the provincial championship in Three Hills.
The local athletes were the class of the competition, scoring 33 goals and allowing just five in their five-game march to the championship.
“I think we were the best team there,” said head coach Mark Kilar who, like his players, was on a high after bringing home the provincial banner. “These guys played as a team this year, and the parents all came together as a really tight group of people. Everyone got along just great.”
A team that is comprised of players who genuinely like each other isn’t guaranteed success on that basis alone, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. And like all championship teams, the Blazers played as a cohesive unit on their way to their big victory.
It started with a decisive 12-0 win over the Calmar Cobras on Friday. With that offensive onslaught, the Blazers made it known that they were a team to be reckoned with at the tournament. The local team poured goal after goal past the beleaguered Cobra netminder, with team captain Alex Antal scoring a hat trick, Nolan Gallinger, Dylan Soroka and Austin Legare potting two and Dallas Jackson, Mitch Evancusky and Ryan Kilar all scoring once.
In their first game on Saturday they played what Kilar called their toughest game of the weekend against the Raymond Ice. The Blazers won 3-2 and only scored the winning goal late in the game. Antal scored again with Soroka scoring another two goals.
The Blazers were back to their dominant ways in their final round-robin game, a 7-1 drubbing of the Oyen Bees. The outcome of the game was seldom in doubt as Jackson was on fire with four goals while Soroka kept up his two-goal pace and Antal once again chipped in a single marker.
That set the stage for a semi-final match against the Beaverlodge Blades on Sunday, which the Blazers took by a 5-2 score.
With that, they were on to the championship game against the Coronation Royals. The Blazers might have expected a more competitive game akin to their battle with Raymond, but the Royals were no match for them as the local team won 6-0 to claim provincial glory. Dallas Jackson scored twice more in the final game, with Soroka, Mason Joe, Jordan Sawka and Hayden Kononchuk also lighting the lamp for Boyle.
Alex Antal was named player of the game for captaining the Blazers to victory — on his birthday of all days.
Goaltender Mason Gauthier was a wall for the Blazers in all five games.
The ride to the championship was a wild one, and even though they outscored their competition by a big margin, it wasn’t an easy one.
“Some of the players said it was probably the hardest thing they have ever done,” said the coach.
“They’re probably going to remember it for the rest of their lives.”
And if those memories ever start to fade, they can just head back to their local rink and look up at the banner that will soon be hanging proudly.
“It’s going to mean a lot to them to go to the rink and have that banner hanging on the wall. That’s something that can never be taken away from them.”
