Sports | DrumhellerMail - Page #56
12232024Mon
Last updateFri, 20 Dec 2024 5pm

Local athletes compete at 55-plus national games

Ladies 60plus hockey team

Some local athletes had the opportunity to compete at the national level at the Canada 55-plus Games.
The games were held in Kamloops during the week of August 23.
Jim Milman qualified for the biking events. He competed in the recreational 75-plus 10 K race and won silver. He also competed in the 75-plus 30 K road race and took home a second silver. In both instances, he raced against Bob Wahlund of Okotoks, who is also competing for Alberta Zone 2. Milman also competed on a 2.8K hill climb, and won first place, although this was not a medal event.

1IMG 0633
He enjoyed the games and is already looking forward to qualifying for the next Alberta 55-Plus games which will be hosted in Brooks. A strong result here could qualify him for the 2024 national games in Quebec.
Karen McMillan and Alison Ostergard also competed at the National 55-plus games in Kamloops. The pair were invited to play on the 60-plus Calgary Outlaws hockey team. Both players were eligible as their Zone 2 team got bronze in provincials and only the top two teams advanced to nationals.
The 60+ division had 8 teams divided into two pools. Calgary lost the first game 4-2 to Team Ontario, and then won the second game against the BC Geri Hatricks. Calgary scored with 3.9 seconds in the game to go ahead 3-2. The third game was a 9-0 victory over the NS Boomers.
In the bronze medal match Quebec scored with 1:20 seconds to go in the game. The Quebec team was favoured to win as they were the defending national champs. Ultimately the teams were very competitive with most games ending in close scores. Team Ontario won gold, Edmonton silver, and Quebec bronze. The next 55+ games will be held in Trois Rivieres in 2024.


Dragons split in exhibition play

IMG 0216

The exhibition season has begun for the Dragons, and so far things are looking bright for the young team.
The Dragons hosted their preseason camp last week and then barreled full into the exhibition season, hosting Brooks Bandits on Wednesday, August 31.
The Bandits opened the scoring in the first period and by the midway point of the second, were up 3-0. Colin Holmes scored his first goal as a Dragon. It was the Bandits’ night however, as they added three more before Nathan Fox scored for Drumheller with 9 seconds left in the second period. The Bandits outshot the Dragons 41-26.
The Dragons were able to dust themselves off after the 7-2 loss, when they faced the Olds Grizzlys on Friday night, September 2. This time Drumheller was in control of the pace early, outshooting the Grizzyls 13-2 in the first. With a minute and a half left in the second period, Sam Simard opened the scoring.
In the third period, the Dragons’ veterans continued the assault. Although the Grizzlys outshot the Dragons 12-5 in the third, three of those shots made it into the net. Goals by Tanner Dawkins, Hayden Prosofsky and Ty Dannault set the Dragons up for a 4-0 win. Garrett Fuller and Williams Dyke shared the shutout.
The exhitbtion season continues for the Dragons. This Wednesday, September 7, they are in Brooks to take on the Bandits, and on Friday, September 9, they host the Calgary Canucks.

Titans top Cold Lake Royals in home opener

IMG 5508

The Senior Titans started their season with a big win, taking on Cold Lake at their home opener.
The Titans hosted the Royals on Saturday, August 27. On their first offensive drive, they were able to make a 70-yard touchdown, however, it was called back. Despite this, it set the pace for the game and the Titans went on to a 32-0 win.
“It was a great start where we didn’t have any turnovers on our side, no interceptions or fumbles, so it’s super rare in your first game to have something like that,” said coach Ken Fournier. “It just shows they’re focused at practice and ready to play.”
He said the Titans’ defence was strong.
“Our defence was on fire, these guys were flowing to the ball well, they took care of the run and we had good coverage. We had a few breakdowns, but we got away with them.”
Despite the lop-sided score, coach Fournier said Cold Lake fielded a quality team.
They just moved up from tier 4 to tier 3 a few years ago. They have great numbers, the football culture around that area is awesome, and it was great to host them,” said Fournier. “They are in a league where they are super competitive.”
It will be a unique season for the Titans as Fournier explains the Big Sky Conference, which the Titans typically play in, is on a hiatus to re-examine rules and league structure. This means the Titans will be playing an exhibition season and is able to schedule games with a variety of teams.
“This year all the teams in Big Sky will be playing independent, which means in order to go into provincials, we’ll have to play-in to qualify. We will basically be playing the same teams that were in our league to qualify, so it doesn’t really change anything,” he said.
He says they are looking forward to playing a larger variety of teams this season and have a busy schedule laid out.
In order for our growth, we need to play some different opponents, we need to prepare for different games. When you prepare for provincials you need a variety of opponents, a variety of situations so we are trying to create that and we’ll be using the exhibition season as that opportunity,” said Fournier.

He likes the look of the 2022-23 version of the Titans.
“I like that we have a solid team effort, we are pretty well-balanced offensively and defensively, and we are getting a really good effort from a lot of guys in a lot of areas,” said Fournier. “These guys show up to practice and they put the work in, there is a lot of potential for them to excel as a team this year if they keep working at it.”
The Titans will be in St. Paul this coming Saturday to play.


The Drumheller Mail encourages commenting on our stories but due to our harassment policy we must remove any comments that are offensive, or don’t meet the guidelines of our commenting policy.