The Drumheller Memorial Arena will be packed this weekend. Teams from all over Alberta will be descending upon the Valley to battle in the most quintessentially Canadian way; a good old fashioned hockey tournament.
Five teams, with roughly 100 players in total, from Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, and Picture Butte have signed up for the tournament,
The tournament starts bright and early Saturday morning at 8 a.m. The final game will start at 12:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
So far this season, the Raptors have been a powerhouse on the ice.
“I have always felt for any team to be successful, it demands team bonding from coaches, players and parents. They must demonstrate the skill of being a team player and not be an individual player out there on the ice. If they play individually, that’s when a team starts to slide. One has to continue to think and demonstrate these abilities, as these are the strengths of a great team,” said Mary Hodge, manager of the Bantam Raptors.
The team has also been tearing through provincials and are gearing up for the zone finals.
“We will heading into the final round of provincials against Canmore to see who takes home the zone banner as well as to see who will continue to the provincial tournament,” said Hodge.
The Raptors are dominating the Central Alberta Hockey League (CAHL) Bantam Tier 3 division. Since moving up from the Tier 4 Bantam division in December, they have skyrocketed to first place, with 11 wins and 27 points.
Their last three games have been tough, however, with a narrow 7-6 win over Chestermere two weeks ago and back-to-back ties this past weekend.
Despite the recent setbacks, they’re confident they’ll give a good fight in the tournament and provincials.
