In their first tournament ever, the Almaguin Gazelles collected the consolation championship and took a moment from celebrations for this photo with coaches Sally Hitchcock, left, and Kim Kennelly.
ALMAGUIN – Sometimes it takes years — or decades — for a team to reach a championship.
For Almaguin’s newest girls’ hockey team it only took a weekend.
The Almaguin Gazelles, an atom/peewee hockey club for girls aged 10 to 12, won the consolation championship of the Blue Sky Classic Girls’ Hockey Tournament held Nov. 9 to 11.
Team members had only taken to the ice together for practice three times previous to the tournament, but managed to pull out some big wins in close games for the title.
The early success is a real boost to the squad that started up with simple goals of having fun and learning more about the game. They also hoped to play a few games against other girls’ teams.
A member of the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association, the Gazelles makes up its roster from house league team players of the Almaguin Minor Hockey Association.
“They’re a really good group of girls who worked really hard to get the wins. Their teamwork was just amazing,” said coach Sally Hitchcock.
Winning the championship took a pair of close games that tested goaltender Selena Leggett.
The first game, the Gazelle’s fourth of the tournament, was a 3-2 affair that went into overtime. They were playing against the North Bay Guardian team on the big OHL surface at Memorial Gardens.
Down 2-0 late in the third period, Jocelynn Brouse scored to put the Gazelles back in contention. Then, with only 36 seconds left in the match, Lillian Sebastian scored with the sixth attacker on the ice to extend the game into overtime. Sebastian scored the winner in the extra frame, but not until after Leggett made two exciting saves to keep the game going.
The win vaulted the Gazelles into the consolation finals, which was a defensive affair against a team they had lost to earlier in the tourney – The Barrie Rival.
Leggett put in a shutout performance and Claire Herminston scored the lone goal of the match for the win and the championship.
Hitchcock says the tourney really demonstrated the girls’ skills learned not just from herself and fellow coaches Kim Kennelly and Jon Newman, but also from power skating coach Myles Pepin.
“The girls really didn’t know what to expect going into their first tournament and it was so exciting to come out with a championship with those close games. It really showed them they have what it takes,” said Hitchcock.
She adds that the team had four members below the normal peewee age group, but still proved to be a force to be reckoned with.
Already the Gazelles are enjoying support from the Almaguin community and will soon be sporting their own jerseys thanks to the generosity of the Burk’s Falls and District Firefighters’ Association.
The Gazelles next games is on Nov. 25 at the Trout Creek Arena at 6 p.m. against a squad from North Bay.
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