Athabasca’s other PeeWee hockey team is doing their best to not only play well and win, but to have fun also.
The PeeWee C Thunder Hawks took one on the chin Sunday afternoon at the Multiplex, falling by a score of 6-0 to Edson in their third game of the young Sturgeon Pembina Hockey League season.
The club’s record is now 0-3 after a lopsided loss to Whitecourt and a very close contest with Slave Lake last weekend.
Head coach Gord Bertin has had the squad on the ice for the last month and is simply looking to have his players enjoy playing, but also help them to improve their game.
“At this level, you still have a wide range of skill levels you are dealing with,” Bertin explained.
“There are players that have played for a few years and have are fairly developed as far as their core skills are. And you also have some players that have only been around the game a bit or are even just starting to play, these are the ones that you, as coaches, need to help develop in the three areas we are focusing on – skating, puckhandling and shooting.”
Bertin added that he is already seeing some improvement in all of those areas with his team, as well as there are a few that have been getting better on playing their positions and knowing where they need to be on the ice in certain situations.
And yet, Bertin knows that at this age, it is still important for the kids to have fun.
“They are still all young kids and that fun aspect is important,” he stated.
“That’s why after the game Sunday, we got the kids together for a team bonding function, where they came and did some canvassing for bottles and cans to raise some money for a couple of tournaments we are going to, plus some food and pop after all the work was done.”
Next up on the schedule for the Thunder Hawks is a return trip to Edson on Nov. 8 and then hosting Whitecourt on Nov. 9.
Rough weekend for Bulls
To say the weekend was a bit rough for the North Central Midget AA Bulls could be a bit of an understatement.
The Bulls were, according to head coach Jody Tangedal, ‘schooled’ on Saturday in Sherwood Park 8-3 and followed that up with an 8-2 loss to Camrose at the Multiplex on Sunday.
Tangedal explained the weekend had a bit of everything.
“In Sherwood Park, we looked like a young team playing against seasoned veterans,” he said.
“They schooled us with quick passing and aggression we just couldn’t match. In Sunday’s game, the kids put in a good effort for two period, but not unlike most games for us this season, we fell apart in the third.”
He added that Camrose has four players near the top of the scoring lead in the league and his club had a very hard time dealing with them.
“We also can’t give up eight goals and expect to win,” Tangedal stated.
Next up on the schedule for the Bulls are the St. Albert Blues in St. Albert on Saturday.
Game time is slated for 2:15 p.m.