The Athabasca Midget ëA' Hawks finished off their 2015-16 season as 1660 Hockey League Bronze medalists, after winning a best of two series against the Thorsby Mustangs.
The Athabasca Midget ëA' Hawks finished off their 2015-16 season as 1660 Hockey League Bronze medalists, after winning a best of two series against the Thorsby Mustangs.
The Hawks tied their final game in Athabasca 6-6 March 20, but won the series with a five-goal spread after defeating the Mustangs 8-3 on March 19.
Having the five-point lead going into their second and final game of the season, head coach Ron Bay said that his team wasn't firing on all cylinders like they have done in the past.
ìIt seemed like a very unemotional game for both teams, î Bay laughed. ìThey won gold in the ëC' division in provincials and we got silver. Neither team wasn't wanting to do anything.
ìAt this point, when you're up (by five) there's not a lot you can say to them. They're going to make the same mistakes or whatever, but it was up to them. For eight of the guys, it was their last games in minor hockey. We thought they would put on a bit of a show in front of the fans, but it was pretty laid back. î
A low scoring first period started off the game. Each team had their fair share of chances to get on the board, but it wasn't until the final four minutes of the period that the Mustangs were the first to find the back of the net, giving them a 1-0 lead going into the second.
The second period had no shortage of scoring, unlike the first. The Hawks were able to net themselves five goals - capitalizing on two powerplay opportunities - to help them get ahead. The Mustangs, however, weren't letting up, getting themselves three goals in the last two minutes of the period to tie the game 5-5.
Although they didn't really need it, the Hawks were looking to end the season with a win. With less than five minutes, Hawks forward Hayden Kononchuck was able to beat the Mustangs net minder to give the Hawks the 6-5 lead.
The Mustangs would, however, answer back less than three minutes later to tie it up 6-6 to close out the game.
ìIt would have been nice to score right at the end there and put it away, but that unfortunately didn't happen, î said Bay.
The Midgets were the final Athabasca team to play in the 2015-2016 season, capping off on what Bay would call a pretty successful season, with a second-place finish in provincials and third place in their own league.
ìIt's a good group of kids and when you look back at (the season) there was a lot of good games, î he said. ì(They) beat everybody. The two teams that are battling for first place right now, (they) beat both of them. Given other circumstances who knows what would have happened? But it was a good season. î
