ESTEVAN — The Estevan Primec Controls Canada U13 AA Bruins' home tournament proved to be a great weekend for the host club.
The Bruins defeated Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Rangers 4-1 in the gold medal game Sunday to win their home tournament, the Primec Controls Canada Challenge Cup. Eight teams entered the tournament, which ran from Friday to Sunday at Affinity Place and the Power Dodge Arena.
Estevan opened the tournament with a 3-2 loss to the Rangers, but the Bruins carried the bulk of the play and held a decided edge in terms of shots on goal.Cooper Hale and Bentley Hebert were the goal scorers, and Joseph Hozjan was in goal.
The Bruins recovered and won both of their games on Saturday, 8-3 over North Dakota's Watford City Oilers and 2-0 over the Regina Tigers.
Hale and Owen Light each scored twice, and Hebert, Eli Hildebrant, Ethan Phillips and Lucas Singleton also scored against the Oilers. The goalie for the game was not indicated.
Hale and Hebert were the goal scorers versus the Tigers, and Hozjan was in net for the shutout.
Estevan finished the round robin with a 2-1 record and advanced to the semifinal round, where they faced the Moose Jaw Warriors and won 7-1, thanks to five goals in the second period. Lucas Desautels and Tayson Tangjerd each scored twice for Estevan, and Hale, Knox Valentine and Light also scored.
Hozjan was in goal.
In the final, Lucas Singleton had a hat trick, including the game-winning marker in the first period. Cooper Hale had the other goal. Cruz Carter was the goalie.
Coach Brant Kersey said the Bruins showed their speed throughout the tournament and moved the puck quickly to generate good scoring opportunities.
"We accomplished a lot of our goals in making sure that we played at a high pace. The pace of play that we generally like to push is through quick movement and letting the puck do a lot of the work," said Kersey.
The defence moved the puck to the forwards, who quickly advanced the puck up the ice. The forwards then pushed the puck behind the defence, generated chances from behind the goal line and capitalized on their opportunities.
"On the defensive side, our defence was outstanding. They played very, very tough, kept all pucks to the outside for the most part, gave up very few legit goal-scoring opportunities, and then when it counted, our goaltending was there to make the big saves."
Light (forward) and Valentine (defenceman) were selected to the tournament all-star team.
"Both had very, very good tournaments. Owen has been a solid player for us all season long, and Knox has come along absolutely wonderfully, and he's come out of his shell in the last few weeks."
The game against Moose Jaw was likely their best, he said. After a slow start in an early-morning game, they started moving the puck and wound up dominating.
"The boys played absolutely phenomenal hockey with the puck movement and going to the net. We had all three lines contributing in the goal scoring."
Kersey noted the Bruins were up 3-1 late in the third period in the final, and goaltender Carter came up with a big save on a Rangers' breakaway to keep it a two-goal game.
Kersey said the Bruins wanted to make the tournament a bigger deal this year. They have outstanding sponsorship from Primec and the club wanted to promote Primec and other sponsors.
"When Primec Controls Canada came on as a team sponsor this year, they were approached as being the title sponsor of our home tournament as well, and they jumped at the opportunity and they were ecstatic to be part of it," Kersey said.
All sponsors received acknowledgement during the weekend.
Kersey said they want to make this an event that teams from all over want to enter. It becomes a showcase for Estevan's facilities and hospitality sector.
Parents, many of whom are from out of town, showed their dedication by volunteering throughout the weekend.
Teams approached tournament organizer Dustin Tangjerd afterwards to praise their efforts. Highlight videos were posted on social media each day. And when players went home, they talked about what a great time they had in Estevan, which leads to others wanting to play here next year.
"I believe it was a tremendous success for everyone," said Kersey.
