SLASH are AFHL Provincial Champions
The Raiders Hockey Club would like to congratulate the St. Albert Midget AAA Slash for winning the 2017 AFHL Provincial Championship. The Club would also like to recognize the dedication and hard work of the players and the coaching staff, Head Coach Dan Auchenberg and Assistant Coaches Tara Swanson and Julia Sharun.
The St Albert SLASH team Play in AFHL (Alberta Female Hockey League) and compiled an impressive 27-2-1 record, good enough for 1st place in the league. The team is made up of girls aged 15-18 from all around Alberta. The SLASH are a fast, highly skilled team that are ranked #1 in Canada.
The SLASH won the provincial tournament this past weekend in Okotoks, AB, defeating the Rocky Mountain Raiders 2-0 in the final. The win represents the first time the SLASH have won a provincial title. The title could be described as an emotional, unscripted series of events.
The weekend started on Friday morning with a game against the 3rd seed Calgary Fire. The St. Albert girls started strong, coming away with a 6-0 win. The second game of the day saw the SLASH take on the 4th seed Red Deer Chiefs. Red Deer had beaten the SLASH the last two times they played, so in some ways they were the SLASH's nemesis. A SLASH win would punch their ticket to the gold medal game. Needless to say, Red Deer won the game in OT, 2-1.
On Saturday morning the ladies geared up to play the host Rocky Mountain Raiders with a chance once again to get to the gold medal game. The SLASH went down 3-0 early, but fought back with 2 goals in the final 4 minutes, falling just short 3-2. The girls were devastated to say the least. It looked like their final game of the provincials would be for a bronze medal, not the gold they were pursuing.
The only shot they had was to hope for an upset win by Calgary over Red Deer. With the SLASH holding their collective breath, screaming girls in their hotel rooms watching the live stream on TV to a few parents at the game, The Fire won the game in a 4 round shootout. It was one of those moments where everyone’s jaws dropped in disbelieve, could this be real? Did we get a second chance? Everyone took a deep breath and started to scramble around and calculate the fate of the team.
With Calgary's win, the Rocky Mountain Raiders finished on top of the standings after round robin play while St Albert, Red Deer and Calgary were all tied with a 1-2 record. St Albert won the tie breaker (goals for vs. goals against formula). Holy Moly, it was true, the SLASH were going to gold medal game they had so badly wanted all year! The emotional swing from their 3-2 morning loss, to the Calgary shootout win in the afternoon game was something each girl will never forget.. In a matter of 3 hours, the girls went from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. The girls regrouped with a new sense of purpose.
Later that evening, the team attended the provincial championship banquet in Okotoks. Team Canada's Megan Michelson was the guest speaker. The theme of her speech was "second chances". How ironic, a fitting speech from one of the best female Canadian athletes of all time, an alumnus of the Female hockey program in St Albert and a former resident of St Albert. Was she foreshadowing something more right in front of them?
Sunday morning came and the girls were pumped and ready to take on the hosts in the Gold Medal game. The girls came out with fire in their bellies. Katelyn Pelly scored early to give the SLASH the lead, 1-0. It was a tightly contested affair until early in the third period when Madison Willan scored shorthanded with a snipe in the slot to make it 2-0 SLASH. Goaltender Camryn Drever was zoned in, she stopped all 36 shots directed her way. As time ran out, the girls rushed their goalie, sticks and gloves flying everywhere. Their dream of winning provincials was a reality. The SLASH had won something no other SLASH team has done before, they were provincial champions, Gold Medal winners, the best team in Alberta. The excitement on their faces told the tale; their dream was completed for this weekend.
Now onto the next phase in their quest for a berth in the National Championship, the Regional Championship.
The St Albert Female Midget AAA SLASH will be hosting the Pacific Regional Championship at the Go Auto Arena at Servus Place in St Albert, AB March 31st, April 1st and April 2nd. This event is a best of three series with the Alberta Provincial Champions, our St Albert SLASH and the BC Provincial Champion, the Greater Vancouver Comets.
Game times are listed below:
Mar 31st @ 7:00 p.m.
April 1st @ 7:00 p.m.
April 2nd @ 1:00 p.m. (if necessary)
The Pacific Regional Champion will move on to compete in the National Championship the ESSO Cup in Morden, MB April 23rd to April 29th.
The Raiders Hockey Club wishes the SLASH the best of luck in the Pacific regional Championship and encourages all hockey fans to come out and support the SLASH.
