PREECEVILLE — The Preeceville Minor Hockey Association hosted a U15 and U18 All Star Game that featured the best of the best players from across the league in the All-Star Game and Skills Competition on Jan. 20.
There were 38 players in each age group, joined by coaching staff members from the featured teams who were represented at the tournament that was held at the Preeceville Skating Arena. Preeceville does not have any U15 or U18 hockey teams based out of Preeceville but still opened its doors to host this event for the third time within a five-year span.
In the U15 category, members of the Highway 9 Predators who are based out of Canora and were selected to participate were: Darian Serdachny, Walker Wolkowski and Zach Keshance. Other teams represented were: the Moosomin Rangers, Indian Head Chiefs, Melville Millionaires, Langenburg Warriors, Yorkton Med Shoppe, Fort Know, Grenfell Spitfires, 4 Nations and Cote Selects.
In the U18 category, members of the Canora Cobras selected to participate were: Hunter Lamb, Bronson Heshka and Bryker Smith. Other teams represented were: the Moosomin Rangers, Indian Head Chiefs, Melville Millionaires, Langenburg Warriors, Esterhazy Flyers, Whitewood Elks, Balcarres Broncos, Yorkton Weeks and Cote Selects.
Jesse Nelson, Jordan Vogel and Dawson Paul from Preeceville were three of the six coaches for the All Star game.
The skills events featured five events: fastest skater, hardest shot, top goaltender, accuracy and breakaway.
In the U15 category breakaway competition, Walker Wolkowski of the Highway 9 Predator from Canora was the winner and Dana Marshall from the Moosomin Rangers was second.
Nevin Dodd of the Moosomin Rangers was the fastest skater followed by Julien Buchberger of the Langenburg Warriors in second. In the accuracy competition, Matthew Beddome from the Melville Millionaires placed first and Mason Apland from the Langenburg Warriors was second. In the hardest shot event, Kelton Prier of the Yorkton Med Shoppe (74 miles per hour) was the winner followed by Rio Gardipy of the 4 Nations (70 miles per hour. In the goal-tender event, Luke Stringfellow from the Langenburg Warriors was the winner, stopping the most shots.
In the U18 category, the fastest skater was Hunter Lamb of the Canora Cobras and Eddie Mitschke of the Langenburg Warriors was second. In the accuracy competition, Logan Suave of the Moosomin Rangers placed first and Ryland Pryhitka of the Melville Millionaires was second. In the hardest shot competition, Ryder Hildebrandt (82 miles per hour) of the Langenburg Warriors was the winner and Griffin Ungrin (80 miles per hour) also of the Warriors, placed second. In the breakaway, Kaleb Hill of the Esterhazy Flyers won first and Riley Fedorowich of Yorkton Weeks placed second. Tye Nagy of the Moosomin Ranger was declared the top goal-tender.
In each age category, players were divided into two teams and faced off against each other in a game format.
After the game was concluded, a spaghetti supper was held for all the players, families and coaches. Awards were presented at the banquet for the skills competition and best player from each team.
“We hosted both the U15 and U18 major hockey league, All-Star game on Saturday and it was a tremendous success,” stated Jesse Nelson, organizer. “We had representatives come from all 10 teams across the league, making up two teams. The boys excited the crowd while putting their talent on display.
“It was absolutely fantastic to see kids from different teams across the league playing as one, even though the competition was fierce I’m sure all the kids really enjoyed themselves. There was a lot of end-to-end action, some great saves, and some beautiful plays.
“The banquet was well attended with representatives from all teams except Moosomin and Indian Head. Awards are given out and the meal was excellent. All in all, Preeceville Minor Hockey showed that a little hard work always pays off. It was a great day for all involved,” concluded Nelson.
