Despite failing to qualify for the semi-final round of the 2011 Atom ‘B’ Provincial Championships, the Westlock Atom Selects had a successful season.
Coach Rick Dutchak said the boys really came together as a team as the year wore on.
“They improved a lot from the beginning of the year,” he said.
“They played as a team at the end of the year.”
This cohesion was most apparent when the team won the Zone 3 banner with a hard-fought 12-11 two-game total-goals victory over Barrhead March 12.
Dutchak said the move to the 1660 League was a good one, because it gave the team the chance to play against higher calibre opponents. This gave the boys a challenge and made them better players, he said.
In the end, the goal of the year was to get the players ready for the next level.
For 11 of the players on the team, that comes as soon as next year when they move up to the pee wee ranks.
“I think they’re ready,” said the coach.
“Those players who are staying behind will be valuable because they’ll be more mature and be able to provide leadership.”
As the hosts of the 2011 Atom ‘B’ Provincial Championships, the Selects opened the tournament at 8 a.m. on March 18 against the team from Duchess.
“Being the first game, we were nervous and not quick or strong enough,” said Dutchak.
The game, which ended in an 11-5 loss, was “probably our weakest game,” he said.
The first period ended with Duchess leading 2-0, but it was too big a hole for the Selects to dig out from.
It was 3-0 before the Selects got on the board early in the second, but then the floodgates opened.
Leading 3-1, Duchess would score the next six goals of the period to lead 9-1 after two periods.
Westlock outscored their opponents 4-2 in the third period, but it was a moral victory as the gap was simply too large to overcome.
Lost in the result was Jaden Senkoe’s four-point game (1G, 3A).
The second game of the tournament for Westlock pitted the Selects against the CNN Spurs, the 1660 League champions for Atom Tier 2.
“It was a really good game,” Dutchak said. “They’re a really strong team. I thought we played really well.”
The game started better for the Selects, who opened the scoring early in the first period. However, it would not last, as CNN would score three goals in just over five minutes to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
In the second, the teams would trade goals. Each team scored twice, bringing the score to 5-3 for CNN after 40 minutes.
The final period saw CNN score twice more to wrap up the game and make the final score 7-3.
“Even though we lost, we had a chance the whole way through,” said Dutchak.
Leading the Selects in scoring were Blair Boulerice and Jaden Senkoe with a goal and an assist apiece.
In the final game of the round robin portion of the tournament, the Selects played the team from Wetaskiwin Saturday morning.
“The team battled hard and had their chances, but missed them,” Dutchak said.
Wetaskiwin would open the scoring midway through the first, but the Selects would rally less than two minutes later to knot the score at 1-1.
That score would stand until three minutes into the second, when Wetaskiwin went ahead 2-1. The Selects again tied the game shortly thereafter, but they would not be able to take the lead, as Wetaskiwin scored twice in a 60 second time span to go up 4-2. Westlock scored with just under two minutes to play in the second to trim the lead to 4-3.
The third was a quiet affair with Wetaskiwin scoring the only goal of the period, making the final score 5-3 and officially ending the Selects’ chances of winning a provincial gold medal at home.
“We took penalties at the wrong time,” Dutchak said. “We could have had them.”
Although the team failed to win a game at the tournament, he said the boys played their best.
“They put in a really good effort,” he said. “Even though they lost, I’m really proud of them.”
