The road to the provincial championship came to a dead end for one Ponoka squad and may soon close for a couple more.
The Vantage Physiotherapy atom club fell to Devon, losing game two of their series 6-3. Meanwhile, the Fountain Tire midget Wolves fell in Lacombe Jan. 31 by 6-3 and needed to win game two held last night (result unavailable) in Ponoka by four in order to advance.
However, the bantam Moose along with both peewee clubs are into their respective zone semifinals.
The Moose clobbered Sylvan Lake to advance, posting a 10-1 win on the road Jan. 31 and an 8-2 victory at home two days later. The peewee Elks dispatched Blackfalds Jan. 30 by more than 10 goals, which meant no second game was needed, while the Quality Paint and Collision peewee squad took care of Wetaskiwin 8-6 on Feb. 1 to take the series. The dates for the semifinals have yet to be set, with the Moose facing Wetaskiwin, Quality Paint and Collision taking on Winfield and the Elks waiting for their opponent to be determined this week.
In female action, the Lacoka bantams are done after falling 7-3 to West Central on Feb. 1 in Rocky Mountain House. The Lacoka midget club got a bye to the zone final, and are awaiting an opponent, while the peewee squad also got a bye into the zone final since they are hosting the Female PeeWee B provincial tournament next month.
Regular season
League play has continued, but it hasn’t been too pretty for some local clubs lately.
The Fountain Tire Wolves were pummelled in their only game, 13-0 by Drayton Valley in Bashaw Feb. 3, while the bantam Moose split a pair of home games losing Feb. 4 by 6-3 to Wetaskiwin then beating Fort Saskatchewan 8-1 Feb. 5. Erik Mathieu, Jake Simanton and Braeden Toporowski had goals in the loss, while in the win Eric Taylor netted a hat trick, Simanton scored twice with singles from Toporowski, Cyle Laing and Luke Bonnett.
The Servus Credit Union bantams were dumped 8-2 at home Feb. 3 by Camrose with goals coming from Cole Fankhanel and Ethan Little, while the peewee Elks were beaten 10-2 at home Feb. 4 by Vegreville with Sam Evans and Luke Simanton scoring for Ponoka.
It was a good weekend for the Quality Paint and Collision peewee club in a home and home set versus Camrose, with the local club getting a 3-1 win on home ice Feb. 3 then earning a 2-2 draw in Camrose the next day. Jaiden Bandet scored twice with Nevin Thompson getting the other goal in the win, while Bandet got both goals in Camrose.
In atom play, it was Vantage Physiotherapy taking one on the chin 17-1 at home on Feb. 4 with the lone goal coming from Matias Czapp.
On the female hockey front, the Lacoka midgets blanked Leduc 5-0 Feb. 4 with Callie Braun and Danielle Blacklock each scoring a pair to go with one from Paige Polson, while the Lacoka bantams fell 5-1 in Camrose on Feb. 4 with Ivy Woolf getting the lone goal.
Saddle up: It’s another busy weekend for Ponoka hockey, though Friday night is still tentative pending a possible change to accommodate a junior B playoff game. As of press time, the Servus Credit Union bantams are set to host Wetaskiwin (6:15 p.m.) followed by the Fountain Tire midgets (8:30 p.m.) taking on Battle River. Saturday’s slate includes McDonalds atoms (10:15 a.m.) versus Battle River, Vantage Physiotherapy atoms against Battle River (12:30 p.m.), peewee Elks versus Edson (2:30 p.m.) and Credit Union bantams taking on Devon (7:30 p.m.). On Sunday, it’s Quality Paint and Collision versus Strathcona (10 a.m.), the Elks taking on Battle River (12:30 p.m.) and the bantam Moose facing Strathcona (2:30 p.m.).