Prince Rupert’s two Peewee house teams, Safeway and Storey’s Excavating, finished in a 3-3 tie to end the Prince Rupert Minor Hockey tournament on Sunday in the 5th-place game.
“For our squad it was really fantastic, the first game they were all over the place. We started to put in little challenges for the kids, and every game they got better and they should be proud of themselves,” said Storey’s Excavating coach Rick Roemer after the game.
It took both teams awhile to score as the goaltenders were playing well, backed up by each team’s fundamental positional play in their own end.
Both teams looked like they were having a blast. Ferryn Collins was often seen dangling, not to be outdone by Kade Jones as they showed off their moves they probably learned watching Brayden Horcoff of the Prince Rupert Rampage.
The refs let the kids play, and during every shift, the kids were giving it their all.
“I’m just trying to get through to the kids that they can never give up. All the kids came out and played better. It’s really gratifying to see that they are trying. I’ve seen a great amount of improvement, attitude wise and they transferred that to the ice,” said coach Roemer.
The atmosphere was positive.
No parents were upset in the stands and it was just some fun hockey — the way it should be.
The organizers of the tournament did a great job playing music between whistles, which contributes to a lifelike atmosphere for the kids, essentially simulating a Rampage game.
In the 3-3 tie, Kyle Le found the net, and Justin Nanan did his best Bobby Orr impression narrowly missing as he flew through the air. Jones finished a nice goal with a sweet deke and put it five-hole. Sar Loring and Jacob Gordon played excellent in net for each team.
Collins tied the game up late with an intelligent play, shooting the puck from behind the end line and banking it in off the unsuspecting netminder.
“They came through. I’m really impressed. I think every one of them walked away a winner, because they’ve improved. I’m not big on the scoreboard, I’m more on the improvement of the kids as people. I had a lot of fun, and so did they. It was a win-win for everybody,” said coach Roemer.