BARRHEAD - The Barrhead Bandits earned the silver medal at their home tournament, winning two out of three games.
On the Dec. 6-8 weekend, the Barrhead Minor Hockey Association (BMHA) hosted an eight-team U13 tournament that hosted both of Barrhead's North Eastern Alberta Hockey League (NEAHL) teams, the Tier 2 Bucks and the Tier 5 Bandits. Other teams included the Tier 2 and Tier 5 Westlock Warriors, two Grand Prairie Tier 2 squads, the Hillmond Hurricanes from Saskatchewan, and the Edmonton Confederates.
"The tournament went well," head coach Greg Shrode said. "The kids played really hard and deserved to come away with a medal."
The Bandits opened the tournament Friday night, doubling up on Edmonton, 6-3. The following day, they defeated Westlock in their second game before losing to the Hurricanes.
Shrode wasn't surprised by the Bandits' strong showing. They are at the top of their division and have won all five regular-season games.
"They've been coming along nicely since the beginning of the season," he said. "It is nice to see their progression and how they play as a team."
The past weekend, the Bandits travelled to Beaverlodge for another tournament before playing their last game before the Christmas break, Dec. 22, at the Agrena against Westlock.
Unfortunately, the Bucks did not fare quite as well, going winless in their three games.
"It was a tough tournament for us," head coach Dan Wierenga said.
The Bucks started the tournament against their Highway 33 rivals, the Westlock Warriors, 5-2. Barrhead then lost two games against Grande Prairie, the first a lopsided 8-0 affair against the Knights before rebounding with a much better 3-0 performance against the Masonry Knights.
Despite the scores, Wierenga said two of the games were much closer than people looking at the scoreboard might have believed.
He said the scoreboard was especially deceiving for their first game against the Warriors.
"It was a game that could have gone either way," Wierenga said, adding they played the Warriors earlier in the NEAHL season, tying them 5-5. "It's good to have a competitor like Westlock that we match up well against just down the road."
Wierenga said he was proud of how his players responded after the second game, adding they came up with a strong team effort.
"That's how it is in sports; you win some and lose some. The important thing is how you respond, learn and grow from your experiences," he said, adding that he is confident that the Bucks will come away from the tournament better for it. "We got a great kids to coach."
As for how the season has been going, Wierenga said it is still pretty early, adding that before the tournament, they had only played in three regular-season games, sporting a record of one win, one loss, and one tie.
Wierenga said he and all the coaches and players also appreciated the excellent community support they received throughout the entire tournament.
He added that tournaments such as the U13 are traditionally held, at least in part, as fundraisers for the local teams, which it was.
However, Wierenga said that as a thank you to the community, the tournament organizers donated half of the proceeds of their 50/50 draw to the Barrhead Food Bank.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
