Skip to content

Boyle's trail Blazers win league title

Boyle's Atom Blazers made history at the Millview Recreation Complex March 3 when they became the first Boyle Minor Hockey Association team to ever win a Northeastern Alberta Hockey League title.
20190304-Boyle Atom Hockey-01
The Boyle Atom Blazers made history March 4, becoming the first-ever team from the Boyle Minor Hockey Association to win a NEAHL title. They won the pennant after defeating the Marwayne Sled Dogs in Dewberry 7-4 Mar. 3 and 8-5 Mar. 4 at the Millview Recreation Complex. (Coaches, L-R) Assistant coach Brad Brenton, head coach Danny Maloney and assistant coach Allen Szmyrko. (Players, back, L-R) Karsten Porter, Brock Bourque and Hailey Szmyrko. (Middle, L-R) Chase Nikipelo, Jayleigh Houle, Brayden Wellon, Brody Maloney, Gage Brenton, Brody Szmyrko and Marah Gordey. (Front) Damon Young.

Boyle's Atom Blazers made history at the Millview Recreation Complex March 3 when they became the first Boyle Minor Hockey Association team to ever win a Northeastern Alberta Hockey League title.

The Blazers swept the final best-of-three series March 2-3 against the Marwayne Sled Dogs, first by defeating them 7-4 in Dewberry, and then 8-5 on home ice to win this year’s pennant for the NEAHL’s Tier IV Atom level.

Head coach Danny Maloney said it felt great for the team to do so well this year.

“It’s awesome,” Maloney said. “Number 16, Brody Maloney, controlled the board in terms of points, while Karsten Porter, our goaltender, came up with some big saves throughout both of our games.”

He added that the team’s defence also played pretty strong throughout the two-game series.

“Hailey Szmyrko was very strong on the ice,” Maloney said. “Marah Gordey got three goals throughout the second game, and Jayleigh Houle, the third girl we had on the team, also did really well. Also, as I mentioned, Brody Maloney played incredibly and very much controlled the game.”

Maloney added that overall, this group of children have a great future on the ice.

“They played really good all year,” he said. “They went 13-1 throughout the regular season, and they went right through the playoffs here without ever losing a single game. They beat Glendon in two games, and they also beat Marwayne in two games.”

As for the provincial-level tournaments, Maloney said they played really well there, too.

“They lost out in provincials to Redwater on March 1,” he said. “It was a really close game, but they lost their match-up by a collective count of one point. While they won the Friday match-up by a 7-5 score, they fell by a combined 17-16 score due to their 12-9 loss Feb. 23.”

Despite the loss, Maloney said he is still super-proud of the team.

“They made it through three rounds, and only lost by one point in the end,” he said. “You can not really ask for much better than this. Every player put all of their effort into every game they played this year, and that’s all that really matters.”

He said the leaders they have on the team really stepped up when they needed them to.

“A couple of them will be really missed next year, with four of my roster moving up to the Peewee level next year,” Maloney said. “They include Brody Maloney, Karsten Porter, Brody Szmyrko and Brock Bourque. As well, I’ll probably be moving up to coach Peewee next year as well, while someone else will be coaching the Atom level next year.”

He said this Atom-level team will be long remembers in the Boyle hockey world for years to come.

“The NEAHL governor, Rachel Smyl, said she has never presented a league banner to Boyle in NEAHL history until that day,” Maloney said. “It was great to hear, and I look forward to seeing the banner hanging in the rafters at the arena.”

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks