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Atom A McDonalds win home tournament

There are three Ponoka athletes heading to the Alberta Winter Games set for Saturday, Feb. 13 to 16 in Medicine Hat.
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Atom A McDonalds' player Dylan Jones sinks the puck into the net Saturday

Hosting your own tournament is certainly fun but winning it can be even better, and that’s exactly what the Atom A McDonald’s team did over the weekend.

The A finals game was relatively close leading to the third period with Ponoka having a narrow 5-4 lead against Crossfield. It wasn’t until about three or four minutes in that Ponoka managed to score, bringing their lead to two.

“They’ve been playing hard all weekend and really wanted this home tournament. Whatever was left in the tank, they just gave it,” said coach Chris Palechek.

The team knew they would make it to the finals. Players also knew they were to face off against Crossfield after playing them before and tying that first game 3-3. “With these guys you never know. It could’ve gone either way,” said Palechek.

The way the tournament worked was with three 25-minute periods with no stops. A win earned two points and a tie earned one. Palechek said all Crossfield needed for a finals game was to tie against New Sarepta, which they did. Team McDonalds won their championship game 8-4.

With four games left in regular league play and a potential advancement in provincial playdowns, this win was important to help boost players’ confidence, suggests Palechek. The Atom McDonalds sit in second place in the league and Palechek said there are about five teams within one point of each other for the top spot.

“It’s definitely in our reach to play there (league finals) but there’s no nights off. They can beat you any time,” he added.

Results of the second game in provincial playdowns were not available at press time.

B division of the tournament

For the Ponoka Calnash Trucking team, getting to the finals in the B division required an important win against Sherwood Park. Calnash Trucking atoms were unable to make that happen losing 7-2. Despite the loss, coach Mike Heidt was proud of players’ efforts.

He praised the team for working against some tough teams and suggests the loss may be a good lesson for the team coming into league playoffs.

Calnash Trucking sits first in its division with a 14-2-0 record and the tournament loss may have jolted the players to be prepared for league play.

“The kids did their best and got to see what level they have to get at,” said Heidt.

He praised the goaltending of Carter McDowell who managed to stop over 100 shots on goal over the course of the weekend.