The Northland Ford Atom A Bombers and Ped’s Threads Atom AA Bombers, have been enjoying a successful season.
The teams shared some highlights with The Reminder.
Snake Lake
The Snake Lake Classic Tournament took place in Prince Albert from Jan. 22 to 24.
The Atom AA Bombers played very well at the tournament, held on real ice. They won all their round-robin games and the first playoff game.
For the gold medal they faced The Pas, which was a very rough game, both physically and verbally. The team was proud of how our players handled the situation, with no retaliations, and tried to focus on playing hockey.
Our players hammered shots on net but The Pas’ netminder was on fire – we outshot them by far but unfortunately couldn’t put them in. We brought home the silver medal with a 3-1 loss.
The Atom A team played five games and went undefeated (with two shutouts) to win gold as the Tier III Champions.
“It’s our first year together, and no team passes like our team,” said coach Tim Smith. “It’s ingrained into them to pass the puck. That’s why they’ve been so successful.”
Teams in the tournament were from Saskatoon, La Ronge, Île-à-la-Crosse,
Prince Albert and Flin Flon.
Grub Box
The Grub Box Tour-nament was held in The Pas from Feb. 5 to 7.
The Atom AA team lost their first three games, but not by much, and got their game back for the last three matchups.
There were two major highlights of the weekend. The first was that they were the first team to beat the undefeated Swan Valley Stampeders with a 4-1 win.
The second was a very nerve-wracking, clean game against The Pas Huskies for the bronze medal. It was a 4-3 OT win for the AA Bombers.
The Pas held a skills competition with five events: goaltending, fastest skater, hardest shot, shootout and agility. The Flin Flon players were crowned the overall skills champions for the AA category.
The Atom A Bombers played five games and went undefeated (with three shutouts) to win gold as the Morrish Cup Champions.
“The team played everybody in the tournament once,” noted Smith.
Teams in the tournament came from Gillam, The Pas, Thompson, Swan River and Flin Flon.
Munn Cup
The Munn Cup Tournament took place in Thompson from Feb. 12 to 14.
The Atom AA boys went undefeated in the round-robin, with the closest game against Thompson. They really meshed and worked hard all weekend but fell short to the Pas once again for the Munn Cup, losing 5-1.
The AA team won silver and had a defenceman and a forward chosen for the all-star team.
The Atom A team played four games and lost one to finish with bronze and win the Mintenko Cup.
“They were leading the game after two periods then lost 6-4 to Rankin Inlet, a strong team,” said Smith. “It was a good experience playing kids from other communities, including two teams from Nunavut.”
Teams in the tournament came from Flin Flon, Cross Lake, Rankin Inlet, Thompson and Arviat.
Embry Roberts won the award for Top Offence in the A Division.
“He’s pretty incredible for a kid in his first year playing organized hockey,” said Smith. “He’s a good player, and a very coachable kid.”
The Atom AA team will head to their final tournament, the Hockey Manitoba provincials, this weekend in Stonewall. The Atom A team has its final tournament on March 11 in Swan River.
