The Estevan bantam Bears were the class of the Estevan Minor Hockey Association’s bantam house tournament this past weekend.
The Bears defeated the Yorkton Traction Terriers 7-3 in the A final Sunday at Affinity Place.
Garrett Wollner opened the scoring for Estevan less than a minute into the A final, and Connor Spencer doubled the lead with a goal with less than six minutes to play in the frame.
Zach Gedak scored early in the second to give Estevan a 3-0 lead. Yorkton tallied moments after Gedak's goal, but then Gedak and Spencer each notched their second of the game just over two minutes apart for a 5-1 advantage.
Yorkton would get one more before the period was finished.
Goals by Cole Blondeau and Braxton Dukart in the third gave Estevan a commanding five-goal lead. The Terriers scored one more time before the game was finished.
It was the second time the Bears had faced the Traction Terriers in the tournament. They also beat Yorkton 3-1 in the round-robin.
Coach Scott Saigeon said his team was confident entering the final knowing that they had already beaten Yorkton once.
“When you play them the second time, you can match up with their better players a little bit, and work on them a little harder, too,” said Saigeon.
Estevan opened the tournament with an 18-0 rout of the Prairie Storm Lightning. Saigeon said games like that can be scary, because teams can develop bad habits.
“I think it’s way better playing teams where it’s tight games, and you have to play well the whole game,” said Saigeon.
Then they defeated the Southwest Wings from Melita, Man., 3-2 in a shootout in a quarter-final game, and the Melville Lightning 5-3 in the semifinal.
Saigeon said the Melita entry and Melville were really good teams that were capable of reaching the final.
The final against the Terriers was the Bears strongest showing of the tournament, he said.
“All of the kids came out this afternoon, and every single kid performed.”
Tallan Howie was in goal for the Bears in all of their games.
“All of the players played well, but especially our goalie, Tallan. He really played outstanding for us today, and actually all weekend,” said Saigeon. “He stood on his head.”
When all of the kids want to come out and play hard, and have some fun, their coach says they play great.
“They really enjoyed coming out there, and it’s fun winning your home tournament,” said Saigeon.
The Estevan Knights were also entered in the tournament. They opened with a 7-4 loss to the Yorkton Correct Choice Terriers, but rebounded to trounce the Regina Mustangs 12-3, and finish the round robin with a 1-1 record.
Then they lost 6-5 in overtime to the Melville Lightning in the quarter-finals.
The tournament featured 12 teams, with four pools with three teams each. Games started Friday afternoon, and were played at Affinity Place, the Power Dodge Ice Centre and the Bienfait Memorial Arena.
