The Vermilion Minor Hockey U11 Rona Tigers won bronze at the Tier 3 Northeast Alberta Hockey League (NEAHL) Championships in Elk Point on March 17-19.
This mighty team of 11 fought hard to earn third place overall in the regular season with a record of 14 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie. The top four teams from the first round of playoffs advanced to the League Championships where the Tigers defeated the Hughenden Jets 4-3 to win bronze.
The Tigers had a slow start to the weekend with losses to the Elk Point Avalanche and the Hughenden Jets but came back with an upset 6-1 win over the undefeated league leaders Consort Comets to place them in the bronze medal game.
The season had many highlights. The team was lucky enough to have Jeff Woywitka join a practice to work on core skill development. Aside from winning bronze, this was probably the highlight of the year. There were many FIRSTS for players this year: first goal, first much-practiced celly, first away tournament, first penalty, and first time playing for a league championship. The second years were great team leaders and created a positive experience for the first years. At this age, exceptional! Well done!
The saying there is no “I” in team holds true for this group of young players. Each and every game was a collective effort and that held true right through to the championship weekend. The coaching staff Wayne Rose (head coach), Kyle Lysons (assistant coach) and Justin Bowtell (assistant coach/goalie coach) also played a large part in the success of this team by seeing the potential and strengths of each player. The help of Dustin Farkash, Danny Lysons, and Halle Lehmann (U15 Female Player) at practice and Jim Ruller (team manager) also didn’t go unnoticed this season.