Peewee Chinooks win exhibition thriller against Siksika

Peewee Chinooks vs Siksika
C. Davis photos and video

Chris Davis

Pincher Creek's Spud League Peewee Chinooks hosted Central Alberta Hockey League's Siksika team for a strange and wonderful exhibition game on Saturday afternoon, February 1.

First of all, Siksika battled the odds to even have a hockey season this year.

The aftermath of the June flood left a lot of hockey players and hockey parents wondering if there was even going to be a 2013/2014 minor hockey season. With the help of Hockey Canada and surrounding communities Siksika has pulled through and the season will go ahead as planned. - http://siksikanation.com

“What I did was I contacted the president of CAHL, who happens to be from High River, I mentioned to him that I had families that were asking if I could possibly find them some hockey gear as they had lost everything. So, I asked if they had any left over donations and if they could be so kind to donate to our association. On the following Monday morning, a truckload of hockey equipment arrived from High River. It was a huge surprise and very unexpected to see all those people unloading all that equipment. We are truly thankful.” - Siksika Minor Hockey Coordinator/ Acting Recreation Director Mick Breaker as reported at http://siksikanation.com

In addition, Montreal Canadians goalie Carey Price held an online auction of his sports memorabilia and collectibles with the proceeds going to Siksika Nation Youth programs.  Other auctions and fundraisers also helped put the Siksika teams back in the game.

So, back to the game.

Both teams were more than a little slap happy at the outset, to little effect. While seemingly even matched, there were a lot of unknowns for the Chinooks, and for Siksika as well.  Nothing of note until halfway through the first period, when Siksika's #10 Stran Backfat scored the first goal of the game, unassisted with 9:57 remaining in the period.  Backfat would prove to be a challenge for the Chinooks throughout.  Siksika drove the score up to 3-0 in their favour before the first Chinooks goal at 2:52 remaining pulled the home team out of the doldrums.  That was the first of 5 goals in the game to come from  #40, the mighty Ethan Grier, who was assisted by #13 Thunder Crowshoe. A total of five Chinooks goals (including Grier's) in less than 3 minutes closed out the period, putting the Chinooks ahead 5-3 at the buzzer.  Yowza. That was possibly the biggest reversal of fortune in one period I've seen at the MCC arena all season.

Grier added an assist to his goal.  Scoring for the Chinooks were #19 Calim Yellow Face, #13 Thunder Crowshoe (plus an assist), and #5 Brandi Yellow Wings, who scored twice, including a dramatic goal  with 56 seconds remaining.   #15 Trinity Tanner earned 2 assists.  #20 Captain Nelz Vance and #26 Abi Cryderman also picked up an assist each.

Scoring for Siksika in addition to Backfat was #6 Isacc Little Child, who scored once unassisted and once assisted by #9 Drayton Fast.

If the Chinooks thought they had it all figured out, they were quickly disabused of that idea almost immediately in the second period, when Isacc Little Child scored his third goal of the game, assisted by Stran Backfat.  Yes, there was a trend developing.  5-4. Then  Backfat tied it 5-5 with an unassisted goal at the 13:26 mark.  Calim Yellow Face didn't like that, so he put the Chinooks ahead again 6-5, assisted by Trinity Tanner.  Then Brandi Yellow Wings earned herself a hat trick, unassisted with 9:54 remaining in the period,  to make it 7-5 Chinooks. Then Siksika went on a run again, scoring four goals in a row to wind up ahead 9-7.  Those goals came from Little Child, Backfat, #15 Anthem Wolfchild, and #14 Christopher Red Gum.  Backfat also got an assist.

Calim Yellow Face's hat trick goal

With 4:19 remaining in the second Calim Yellow Face broke the brief but costly Chinooks drought with his third goal of the game, assisted for the third time by Trinity Tanner.  9-8 Siksika.  With 3;10 remaining Ethan Grier scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Brandi Yellow Wings and Sam Jordan, tying it 9-9.  Calim Yellow Wings made the most of a breakaway to put the Chinooks ahead again, 10-9, unassisted, with 2:39 remaining in the period.  At 2:20 remaining Stran Backfat scored his fourth goal of the game, tied again, 10-10. Finally, with only 22 seconds remaining, Ethan Grier scored his third goal of the game, a breakaway, unassisted.  At the buzzer the Chinooks were ahead 11-10.

This was not a fun game for the goalies.  21 goals in two periods.  A one point difference going into the third.  That's about as close as it gets.

The Chinooks were on a roll exiting the second period, and they carried that momentum into the third.  Stran Backfat scored his fifth goal of the game, once again unassisted, with a powerful slapshot 10 seconds into the first play of the period, tying it once again, 11-11.  It was to be Siksika's last goal of the game.  Four more goals from the Chinooks in the third gave them a 15-11 win.  They really tightened up their defence in the third, and it helped immensely.  Two of those goals were by Calim Yellow Face, both unassisted.  The other two came from Ethan Grier, with assists going to Sam Jordan, Trinity Tanner, and Elias Smith.

Top scorers in the game

For the Chinooks:
Ethan Grier (5 goals, 1 assist)
Calim Yellow Face (6 goals)
Brandi Yellow Wings (3 goals, 1 assist)
Trinity Tanner (5 assists)

For Siksika:
Stran Backfat (5 goals, 2 assists)
Isacc Little Child (4 goals)

It was a pleasure to see these two teams competing with each other in a high energy, high scoring, low penalty game.