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| SPORTS - November 18, 2008 |
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Jeff D’Andrea/AA
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| Athabasca midget AA Winterhawks forward Craig Hamilton is just jacked from his team’s recent success, and his own, as he celebrates the first of five goals he scored this weekend. |
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| ‘Hawks grab three points against the top two SPHL teams |
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By Jeff D’Andrea
Advocate Staff
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The Athabasca midget AA Winterhawks had as tough of a draw as you could imagine, being matched up against the second-place Onoway Eagles Friday at home, and the first-place Westlock Sabres away.
But instead of writing Sturgeon-Pembina Hockey League midget AA division director Bruce McLean an email with "What’s the big idea?" in the subject line, the Winterhawks buckled down and played some pretty fantastic hockey against the league’s best.
SPHL points leader, Onoway Eagle Scott Dunstall, who has registered 43 points in only 17 games, was completely shutdown by goaltender Carlen Lyle and the Winterhawks D.
In fact, the entire Eagles roster failed to find the mesh behind Lyle’s back in a 6-0 romp.
Lyle had 31 shots to take care of, and stopped them all.
It was a good day for those who had Craig Hamilton in their fantasy hockey pool, as he lead the charge offensively. All three of his goals were the result of gritty effort in front of the net. He scored within the first two minutes to put the ‘Hawks ahead, and added to the lead halfway through the first frame.
He also padded his stats with a goal with four minutes left in the game, and added an assist.
Davis Bradfield, Patrick McConnell and Dylan Gustafson added the other goals in the blowout win.
Westlock’s Mike ‘Poison’ Ivey was the next assignment for the D. Ivey leads the SPHL with 24 goals and 37 points in 15 games, and the ‘Hawks needed to keep him in check.
Both teams were tied until late in the period, where red hot Hamilton scored his second of the game with only a minute left to give Athabasca a 3-2 lead.
The Winterhawks kept Ivey off the scoresheet until the last 35 seconds, where he scored to tie the game in dramatic, heart-breaking fashion.
Head coach Roland Lux took a quick peek at the weekend’s game sheets and was pleased.
"The biggest thing I told the kids is that we played the two top teams, and in two games we had three goals scored against us, and we scored nine," said Lux.
"If we’re focused and we play within our system, we can play with anybody in the league."
Keeping the two leading scorers in check also impressed the coach.
"That’s commitment to taking care of their own end of the ice," said Lux.
Taylor Biro stopped 36 of 39 in Westlock, about as good as you can ask of a goalie following Lyle’s Onoway goose-egging.
"Our goaltending was superb, both games," said Lux.
"We’ve got the best 1-2 punch for goaltending in the league and we’re pretty lucky. If we happen to make a mistake, we have confidence with those guys (Lyle and Biro) back there."
Last week, the Winterhawks lost close games to Hinton 6-4 and Edson 4-2, both away from home, but rebounded very well with two great efforts this week.
The Winterhawks will stay here this weekend, hosting Whitecourt Saturday night and Hinton Sunday afternoon.
Both Whitecourt and Hinton have 11 points on the season, one ahead of the Winterhawks’ total of 10. |
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