(Goalies front row, left to right) Blake Hill, Ty Keyowski (Middle row) Head Coach Cam Kayter, Carson Jones, Grady Ching, Cole Nakrayko, Jesse Scriven, Kaleb Johns, Sullivan Bursaw, Jakob Palmer (Back row) Manager Colin Mennie, Zak Markowski, Hayden Flottemesch, Parker Rinas, Zander Wildeboer, Will Kasner, Reid Viden, Caleb Philp, Kobe Pellack, Assistant Coach Gage Helm, Assistant Coach Tyler Pellack (Photo submitted)
The Warman U13AA Wildcats skated into the history books when they became the first Warman team to win the prestigious Regina Pats U13AA Classic Tournament.
The Classic, held January 25-28 in Regina, is the largest U13 tournament in western Canada, with 32 teams facing off for the title.
Three Wildcats players were named Tournament First Team All-Stars: goalie Ty Keyowski, defenceman Kaleb Johns and forward Kobe Pellack.
Pellack was also named Tournament MVP.
Warman head coach Cam Kayter was very pleased with his team’s effort.
“The tournament is invitational only, so all the teams there are at the top of their leagues,” said Kayter. “So for us to go there and not only compete, but succeed and win it shows how this team has developed. We are a high-skilled team. We like to move pucks and be unselfish and that tournament really showed it.”
The team breezed through round-robin play with dominant wins over the Lumsden Lions (9-3), Winnipeg River East Marauders (11-4), and Calgary NW Stamps (13-3).
The playoff round was a little more challenging.
The Wildcats really buckled down, winning close ones over the Regina Buffaloes (4-3)in the quarter final, Lethbridge Hurricanes (6-5) in the semi-final, and Humboldt Broncos (2-1) in overtime in the championship game.
In the hotly-contested final, Jesse Scriven got the Wildcats on the board in the first period. Humboldt’s Bryer Loose answered back in the middle of the second period. An intense defensive battle resulted in a scoreless third period. Tournament MVP Kobe Pellack netted the championship winner early in the 3-on-3 overtime.
“To the credit of the kids, they understood to move forward defensively,” said Kayter. “For our next three games to be one score games and ultimately win in overtime really showed the growth of our team. Yes, we can run and gun with the best of them, but also we can win close ones, which shows we have the right stuff.”
Our region is well-represented on the team with players from Warman (10), Shellbrook (3), Rosthern (1), Clavet (1), Wakaw (1) and Allan (1).