Midget Huskies triumphant at home tourney

Midget Huskies triumphant
C. Davis photos/ C. Davis & T. Lucas video

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice with Toni Lucas

Huskies Captain
Brett Tarcon

Pincher Creek's Midget Huskies faced some unusual challenges at their 2013 home tournament, but ultimately took home first place.  The tournament was held last weekend at the Memorial Community Centre Arena. 6 teams competed in two Pools, with each team playing a total of three games.

The Midget Huskies began the tournament the same way they began their 2012 tournament: with a big win over the Elk Valley Wild. The Huskies won last season's opener by a score of 11-4 (click here for that story).

The Huskies have been challenged by only three teams this season: Coaldale (the only team to defeat them) and Bow Island in regular season play and Fort Macleod's Mavericks (tied in exhibition play).

Midget Huskies vs Elk Valley Wild

Midget Huskies vs Elk Valley Wild

The Huskies and the Wild opened the tournament with a game on Friday evening, February 1.

The fast-paced first period played to a draw until the 5:21 mark when Huskies #23 Ryan Marshall scored. Freddie Bruder and Michael Roy got assists on the play. Almost immediately after that Huskies #22 Derek Tarcon broke away from the pack. He deked out the Wild goalie to put another one on the scoreboard. Chase Tymchyna got an assist on that play, and the Huskies were up 2-0. Not for long. A Huskies' pass went astray, and Wild #4 Taylor Wray made the most of it, scoring his own shorthanded breakaway/deke goal with 4:08 left in the period. Jake Runzer got an assist on that play, and at the end of the period the score stood at 2-1 in the Huskies' favor.

The second period started out much like the first, with both teams playing hard, checking hard, driving the puck back and forth across the ice to no avail. Goaltending on both ends was very solid. At the 15:06 mark Wild Captain Matthew McArthur tied it up 2-2, assisted by Braidan Noble. Shortly after that, the Huskies assailed the Wild net. Wild goalie Sawyer Ward stopped one hard shot with his face mask, and scrambled to defeat several other attempts before Huskies #22 Derek Tarcon got one past him, unassisted, to put the Huskies ahead again, 3-2. At the 12:40 mark Wild's Amrit Saran got a 10 minute Misconduct penalty. At the 13:02 mark Huskies #18 Chase Tymchyna scored, assisted by Blair Goodreau. 4-2.

It was starting to look like the Huskies had the Wild figured out, and were adopting their play to suit. Some great defensive work and goaltending by Braeden Claringbull definitely helped, as the Wild put forth some storng offensive plays of their own. At the 9:48 mark Huskies Captain Brett Tarcon rushed the puck right into the Wild net, assisted by Ryan Sciarra. 5-2. At the 8:05 mark Captain McArthur scored his second for the Wild, assisted this time by Amrit Saran. 5-3. With 6:27 remaining in the period Huskies #17 Jared Koentges knocked one in, assisted by Lane Crawford and Tristan Doell. Tempers began to fray at the end of the period, costing the Wild in particular some serious penalty time. Wild's Jake Runzer got a 10 minute Technical and Huskies' Steven Mitchell got a 10 minute Misconduct. The period ended with the Huskies ahead 6-3.

The Wild scored first in the third period, when #6 Evan Morrisette chipped in an unassisted goal at the 14:43 mark. It was to be their last of the game. Great goaltending on both sides again kept the score down. At the 13:13 mark Wild's Thomas Hopkins got a 10 minute Technical penalty, which didn't help his team's chances any. A sprinkling of penalties at the same time made for a brief period of exciting 4 on 4 play. Michael Roy scored the Huskies' first goal of the period with 2:22 left in the game, assisted by Ryan Marshall. At the 1:36 mark Derek Tarcon achieved a hat-trick with an unassisted goal. Huskies Calahan Bruder got sent home with a 10 minute Misconduct at the same time.

Final score: Huskies 8, Wild 4

Player of the Game recipients were chosen by the opposing teams.

#22 Derek Tarcon was chosen as Player of the Game for the Midget Huskies.
#30 Sawyer Ward was chosen as Player of the Game for the Elk Valley Wild.

Chiefs vs Oilers

Saturday games, visiting teams

Glenlake Hawks 4, Okotoks Oilers 3
Wetaskiwin Ice Kings 8, Elk Valley Wild 3
Glenlake Hawks 3, West Country Chiefs 1
Okotoks Oilers 6, West Country Chiefs 3

Midget Huskies vs Wetaskiwin Ice Kings

Midget Huskies vs Wetaskiwin Ice Kings

For their second game of the tournament the Huskies faced the Wetaskiwin Ice Kings on Saturday afternoon, February 2. Both teams defeated the no-slouches Elk Valley Wild by similar margins, so hockey fans had a right to expect a great game, and they weren't disappointed.

It was a low-scoring high energy game. Lots of big penalties. Huskies #11 Calahan Bruder got a total of six penalties. Huskies Jared Koentges, Steven Mitchell, Zach Wall, and Bruder all got ejected over the course of the game, as did Ethan Morrow and Jordan Sears of the Ice Kings.

The Ice Kings scored first with a goal by their Captain Jeremy Dyck at the 11:45 mark of the first period, assisted by Brett Snyder. Huskies #9 Blair Goodreau scored with 5:03 left in the period, assisted by Derek Tarcon and Tristan Doell. Seven Mitchell scored for the Huskies with 1:36 left in the period, assisted by Will Thorpe, putting the Huskies ahead 2-1 at the buzzer.

Nobody scored in the second period, which was a hard hitting affair. The Huskies hammered the Oil Kings' net, pouring on the offensive pressure, but Oil Kings goalie Jordan Brack turned out to be a formidable opponent. The same was true for Huskies goalie Lane Kalbhen, who wasn't called upon as often to defend his crease, but was a wall denial when he was.

Oil Kings #16 Tanner Newton tied it up at 2-2 at the 13:21 mark in the third period, unassisted. It looked like the Oil Kings were going to be ahead 3-2 shortly after that, but the goal was negated due to the net being off its moorings. A resulting penalty shot was blocked by Kalbhen. The Oil Kings started to take control of the game about midway through the period, making it Kalbhen's turn to shine, which he did. With 4:02 left in the game Michael Roy scored for the Huskies, a shot that bounced off Brack in the Ice Kings net, up and over and in. Ryan Marshall got an assist on that play. 3-2 Huskies. Then, with only 3:21 left in the game, Huskies Captain Brett Tarcon scored, assisted by Tristan Doell, making it 4-2 Huskies, which is where it stood at the final buzzer.

#1 Jordan Brack was chosen as Player of the Game for the Wetaskiwin Ice Kings.
#33  Lane Kalbhen was chosen as Player of the Game for the Midget Huskies.

Huskies Player of the Game Lane Kalbhen

Two wins for the Huskies placed them in the First Place game.

Oilers vs Ice Kings

Second and Third place games

Third Place: Elk Valley Wild (Wild 8, West Country Chiefs 4)
Second Place: Okotoks Oilers (Oilers 10, Wetaskiwin Ice Kings 3)

First Place Game: Midget Huskies vs Glenlake Hawks

Huskies vs Hawks

From the first puck drop on Sunday afternoon this promised to be an exciting game. Fast moving and hard hitting, neither team let the other have an advantage for long in the first period. The Huskies bench was a little smaller than usual due to suspensions incurred in their previous outing. Hawks #12 Silas Johnson scored first, early at the 19:40 mark, assisted by Bayden McBean. Jared Koentges evened things up for the Huskies with a goal at the 17:00 mark, assisted by Tristan Doell and Blair Goodreau. At the 16:51 mark Hawks #7 Connor Newton scored unassisted. At the 5:39 mark Huskies Captain Brett Tarcon scored his first goal of the game, assisted by Marshall. The period ended in a 2-2 tie.

Brett Tarcon was in top form for this game, as will be revealed.

There was a special on hard hitting hockey in the second period, with a large side order of penalties for the Hawks, costing them dearly. Lots of hard checking all around, as well. Brett Tarcon scored again for the Huskies, at the 17:09 mark, this time assisted by Lane Crawford. Then Silas Johnson scored for the Hawks at the 15:48 mark, assisted by Tyson McNeill and Brayden McBean. 3-3. The rest of the period went to the Huskies. Huskies goalie Braeden Claringbull stopped everything that came his way. At 10:55 on the clock Derek Tarcon scored, assisted by Marc Sciarra and Ryan Marshall. Then at 9:57 Brett Tarcon achieved a hat-trick, assisted by Will Thorpe. Then Ryan Marshall scored one at the 8:49 mark, assisted by Brett Tarcon. With 4:28 Brett Tarcon scored his 4th goal of the game, assisted by Tristan Doell and Blair Goodreau.

Bam! Huskies end the period up 7-3. A nice way to start the final period of a tournament final.

The Huskies appeared to be mixing it up a fair bit in the third period, experimenting with their lines. At the same time, they very rarely let the Hawks anywhere near the net. At the 12:25 mark Brett Tarcon scored an unassisted goal for the Huskies. 8-3. At the 5:24 mark he scored again, making it a double hat-trick for him. Ryan Sciarra got the assist. With 2:39 left in the game Lane Crawford scored for the Huskies, assisted by Will Thorpe. With only 56 seconds left Brayden McBean scored a consolation goal for the Hawks.

Final score: Huskies 10, Hawks 4

#12 Silas Johnson was chosen Player of the Game for the Glenlake Hawks.
#16 Brett Tarcon was chosen Player of the Game for the Midget Huskies.

Huskies fans were in agreement that the three games the Huskies played over the course of this tournament were probably the most exciting to watch of the season so far.

The Midget Huskies will be back on home ice on Saturday, February 9 when they take on Cardston at the MCC Arena starting at 3:45 pm.