Midget Huskies deliver barnburner for final home-ice game of season

Midget Huskies vs Coaldale (Brett Tarcon foreground)
C. Davis photos and video

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

The Spud League season ended last weekend for the Midget Huskies, who ultimately lost out to Coaldale for possession of the league banner for the 2012/13 season after a three-game back-to-back playoff series.

The first game of the series was held in Coaldale on Friday, March 15.  The Huskies were up 4-0 at the end of the first period, but saw that lead whittled away throughout the second and third periods.  Coaldale ultimately won the game 6-4, including an empty-net goal in the declining moments of the game.

The second game of the series was held at Pincher Creek's Memorial Community Centre Arena the next day, and the Huskies were victorious by a convincing 5-2 score in that one (see below for a full recap of that  game.

The third and final game was played on Sunday, March 17 in Coaldale, and Coaldale won that one 7-4 to secure the league title for the season.


It was a somewhat disappointing ending of the Spud League season for the Huskies, who constantly rose to the challenges presented them, winning 22 of 24 regular season games, just one shy of Coaldale's 23 wins of 24 games for the season.  Coaldale's sole regular season loss was to the Huskies on November 4, 2012 (12-4 for Pincher Creek).

The Huskies have one more tournament ahead of them, to be held this coming weekend in Calgary against teams from Shaunavon, Lethbridge, and Calgary.  "We're going to end the year that way, on a good note," according to  Huskies General Manager Ken Doell.

Huskies vs Coaldale playoff game #2

The Huskies hosted the Coaldale Cobras at Pincher Creek's Memorial Community Centre Arena for game #2 of the playoff series on the evening of March 16.

Prior to the game, members of Pincher Creek's Atom Chinooks dressed in Huskies' away gear and participated in a ceremony celebrating the 9 retiring members of the team.  Lane Kalbhen, Brett Tarcon, Ryan Sciarra, Tristan Doell, Lane Crawford,  Will Thorpe, Michael Roy, Ryan Marshall, and Braeden Claringbull are all finishing up their junior hockey years, and were warmly received by the crowd as they were given souvenir jerseys provided by Pincher Creek Minor Hockey and Crowsnest Pass Minor Hockey.   Brett Tarcon, Ryan Sciarra, and Ryan Marshall all hail from the Crowsnest Pass.  Click here for more about that event.

Behind by one in the best-of-three series, it was a do-or-die game for the Huskies, who pulled out all the stops on their way to a 5-2 victory before a huge crowd.

 A big hurrah of acknowledgement is due Huskies goalie Lane Kalbhen, who was outstanding the entire game.  Big saves, lots of them, enough to tip the scales.

Ryan Sciarra scored for the Huskies only a minute into the game, assisted by Blair Goodreau.  Captain Brett Tarcon made it 2-zip at the 17:12 mark, assisted by Josh Foster.  Coaldale took more shots on net, many of them of the "blistering" variety, but Kalbhen stopped them all until the  7:16 mark when Cole Parkinson scored for Coaldale, assisted by Justin Bourk.  2-1.  Blair Goodreau scored unassisted at the 6:56 mark, making it 3-1 for the Huskies.  Unfortunately, Huskies #15 Tristan Doell sustained a season-ending injury at the same time as that play.

Alex Hlas-Ross of the Cobras scored first in the second period, assisted by Cole Parkinson, making it 3-2.  That was it for the Cobras.  At the 16:26 mark Brett Tarcon scored his second goal of the game for the Huskies, putting them ahead 4-2.   A period and a half of rock-em-sock-em full-tilt hockey followed, with startlingly good goaltending on both ends (Riley Martens in net for the Cobras) keeping the score unchanged until Ryan Sciarra scored unassisted with a long-bomb to the empty Cobras net with only 1:58 remaining in the game, adding to his earlier goal and assist.

Final score: Huskies 5, Coaldale 2

I have to agree with Huskies GM Ken Doell, who said afterwards "That was a good game.  That's the best I've seen them play all year."