There were fights. There were chicken wings. Children in face paint and hockey jerseys pounded on ice-rink glass, cheering for new friends.
The second annual Athabasca College Hockey Challenge did not disappoint.
“From an organizer’s perspective and a fan’s perspective, I don’t think you can get better entertainment,” said ACHC co-chair Jeff Johnson after the tournament. “That was fantastic.”
This year, the five teams that competed in the first ACHC returned to the Athabasca Regional Multiplex Sept. 8-10.
The men’s teams the University of Alberta Golden Bears, University of Alberta Augustana Vikings and NAIT Ooks, joined the women’s teams the University of Alberta Pandas and University of Saskatchewan Huskies battled it out on the ice and shared their stories with local student athletes behind the bench.
This year, the teams played five games over three days.
“It was a really action-packed weekend,” said Johnson. “So if you came to the rink virtually any time there was something going on … I think that was really a nice piece of what made this a success.”
The Golden Bears came out the overall men’s victors, beating to Ooks 4-3 Friday night and the Vikings 7-4 Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday night, the Vikings beat the Ooks 2-1.
“I was pretty impressed with both teams,” Vikings head coach Blaine Gusdal said after the team’s victory. “I thought in the first two periods we had a lot of good scoring chances that we didn’t cash in on, and it kept the game close. And then we knew that they were going to have a good push in the third period. And they did, but I was really proud of how our guys battled and kind of held the fort and got a nice win. It’s exhibition, but it’s still nice to win.”
The Pandas and the Huskies took their Friday afternoon game into a double overtime and then a shootout, with the Pandas coming out on top with a score of 3-2. Saturday afternoon, the Huskies tied up the weekend by beating the Pandas 2-1.
“Oh my gosh, it was so exciting,” committee member Erin Francis said about the first women’s game.
The ACHC committee also arranged several events aimed at showing young athletes the opportunities to play sports through education.
Francis said Aspen View Public Schools bussed more than 400 students to an education fair held Friday night, which schools including the University of Lethbridge and MacEwan University attended.
“It’s important for kids to realize the importance of education,” Francis said. “That you need to attend school, you need to get decent grades and there is a chance that you can go this route in hockey. Not everyone needs to go to the NHL to have a successful career in hockey.”
Young hockey players had the chance to join a rally squad, which got them access to the games, jerseys and on-ice time with the players.
“It just adds to the atmosphere I think,” Francis said. “The on-ice stuff was so much fun for all of the kids. I honestly think it’s fun for the big kids, too. I think those college and university players enjoy having the little ones out there with them and goofing around.”
Athabascan Lena Dundas was on the Pandas rally squad, and had the opportunity to visit with Morgan Burr, who she sat in the stands with at least year’s tournament when Burr was injured and could not play.
“I saw her last year, and I don’t know how we became friends, we just did,” Dundas said. “I was really excited to see her here this year and that she was playing hockey here this year.”
Dundas said Burr taught her to pull her arm back more when taking a shot.
Families with children in women’s hockey also had the opportunity to billet Panda and Husky team members.
Saturday night featured a community dinner of roast beef, potatoes and Caesar salad before the game. Sports journalist John Short interviewed Golden Bears head coach Serge Lajoie, Ooks assistant coach Shawn Belle, Huskies assistant coach Brian McGregor and Huskies player Kaitlin Willoughby in front of the crowd. The conversation touched on Don Cherry’s persona, how academics brought them to sports and on how to balance courses and hockey while in college.
NAIT head coach Tim Fragle spoke at a coaches’ clinic, as well, which was open to any parent or coach that had an impact on children in sports. Francis said it was “excellent,” but poorly attended, with about a dozen people showing up.
Johnson said this was the ACHC’s best year yet, and the community can expect to see teams back at the Multiplex if the community is willing to volunteer their support again.
As for expansion, he suggested the committee is likely to continue limiting the tournament to five teams.
“They truly are some of the best college programs in the entire country, so it’s hard to outdo what we’ve done so far,” he said.
“You could definitely make this a bigger tournament with more teams and even add a day,” he added. “The challenge we have is the facilities. Teams will come. We have the volunteers. We have the ice surface, and it’s a great arena. But you know, we just don’t have the dressing room facilities to do a tournament much bigger than this.”
