Winning weekend for Atom 2 Chinooks

Pincher Creek's Atom 2 Chinooks had a great weekend, winning one at home and one on the road with the help of some affiliated players from the Novice Chinooks.

Atom 2 Chinooks vs Warner
Captain Caleb Evans in the foreground
C. Davis photos

Atom 2 Chinooks vs Warner

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

Pincher Creek's Atom 2 Chinooks hosted their Warner Sabres rivals at the MCC arena on Saturday, December 1.

For much of the first period neither team managed to gain an advantage.  Goaltending on both ends was sharp, and there was a lot of back and forth action.  Warner's #7 Peyton Poncelet scored first, with only 3:11 left in the period, and that's where it stood at the buzzer.

The Chinooks came out strong in the second period. The forward lineups, including Captain Caleb Evans, alternates Beyonce Crowshoe and Abi Cryderman, Riley Potts, and Connor Stuckey demonstrated a really good grasp of the fundamentals, each one knowing where to be to make the most of possible opportunities, and displaying a greatly improved passing play.  Potts is actually a Novice team member, but he came out to help the Atom 2 Chinooks fill out their roster, as did Cory Dyck.  They fit right in.  #3 Connor Stuckey scored early at the 17:10 mark, assisted by Potts, tying it up 1-1.  Both teams played hard throughout the period, with neither gaining an advantage until Warner's #17 Rory Ironside score, assisted by Peyton Doncelet. The score stood at 2-1 for Warner at the buzzer.

The third period belonged to the Chinooks.  Joey Gibboney of the Pincher Creek Senior Huskies was watching closely and expressed admiration for the team in general and for goalie Christopher LeBlanc, who put in a huge effort.  "Man is that kid ever a great goalie," enthused Gibboney, saying LeBlanc looked like a natural out there. Riley Potts scored two unassisted goals in the period, and Abi Cryderman finished the game off with a solo goal of her own.

Final score: 4-2 for the Atom 2 Chinooks

Atom 2 Chinooks vs Kainai Little Chiefs

Coach Kayne Evans

On Sunday December 2, 2012 the Pincher Creek Atom 2 Chinooks traveled to Standoff to take on the Little Chiefs and hopefully build off their strong showing in the third period of yesterday’s game.  With injuries, vacation and other commitments the Chinooks called upon three of their affiliated players, Riley Potts, Mayz Vance and Drew Stuckey to play in this game. At 17:22 of the first period the Chinooks capitalized after the expiration of a Little Chiefs penalty, Connor Stuckey scored assisted by Riley Potts.  Later in the first Nico Charette scored on a shot from just inside the blue line assisted by William Johnson Jr and Beyonce Crowshoe.  The period ended with the Chinooks up 2-0.

After end to end battles to start the second and plenty of chances for both teams, the Little Chiefs #12 Nick Fox scored on the Chinooks starting goalie for the game Tristen Blood.   Just over a minute later at 10:18, the Chinooks Caleb Evans scored assisted by Mayz Vance. Then at 8:52, Nico Charette scored his second of the game unassisted, which just happened to be a shot from just over the red line that snuck by the goalie.  Fourteen seconds later Christopher LeBlanc scored, assisted by Caleb Evans.  Riley Potts had many chances carrying the puck up but couldn’t beat the Chiefs goalie until 2:20 of the second period, when he shot from just inside the circle and found the corner of the net.  The next goal was the most exciting play of the game. With 8 seconds left, Christopher LeBlanc picked up the end inside his blueline and started skating for the Chiefs net. Coach Sean and Coach Kayne both thought there was no chance he was going to get there, but not unlike Christopher, who always seems to make the unbelievable happen, he found the back of the net with 0.2 seconds left on the clock.  Chinooks went into the break with a 7- 1 lead.

The third period was again a back and forth affair with both teams unable to score on the multiple chances that they had.  Tristen Blood stopped a breakaway from one of the top Kainai forwards late in the frame and also the rebound which bounced right to another Kainai forward.  At the 3:18 mark the Chinooks found the back of the net again due to their hard work and determination to get to the net. Connor Stuckey scored his second goal of the game with the assist to Charette.  Later in the period at 1:38, Evans netted his second goal of the game and the Chinooks won 9-1.

Even though the score was one sided it really was a reflection of how well the kids played.  The defense never let the Little Chiefs get any quality shots on Tristen and the ones they did manage to, he turned away.  The forwards were also relentless in their backchecking and as a whole the team didn’t let Kainai generate any offensive chances.  On the offensive side the team continues to be learning to pass to each other and not be selfish with the puck.  The novice affiliates turned in good games.  After the game I asked the Chinooks captain Caleb Evans about the Novice kids who played and his comment was “They all played good games, they played their best and without them we wouldn’t have won.”   The whole team deserves recognition today as they all played well!

The Atom 2 Chinooks have next weekend off but pick up against their biggest rivals the South Country Sabres on Saturday, December 15 in Warner.