Three athletes and two coaches from Drumheller along with four athletes and three coaches from Olds were training at Nakiska Ski Resort January 11 and 25, in preparation for the upcoming qualifying ski race in Calgary February 9 at Canada Olympic Park. The qualifier is the criteria for Special Olympics Alberta alpine athletes to compete and coaches to support athletes at the 2015 Special Olympics Provincial Winter Games planned for Grande Prairie, AB.  Coach Martin McSween said although there is no ski hill in Drumheller, there are interested athletes who would like to qualify for racing at the provincial games. They have been busy dryland training every Tuesday evening since late October and taking what on snow training the team can afford to ready themselves for this up coming event. Returning athletes include Mitchell Pennington, Jay Dekeyser and Quinn Delisle from Drumheller, Brian Tabor and James Beitzel from Olds along with two new recruits from Olds; Nicole Palardy and Thomas Rooks.  McSween said without the support of new coach, Cody Patton and the three coaches from Olds; Dean Peachment, and new coaches Mike Rooks, and Murray Elliott, they would not be able to support these athletes on this endeavour. The athletes are excited and looking forward to this event and this chance to get back in the saddle from a hiatus from the last provincials in 2011 for our veteran racers. The team will be missing one Drumheller athlete who has chosen not to ski and one Olds athlete who was injured in the fall of 2013. McSween said as head coach he is looking forward to see how these athletes will fair and this  qualifier will give them a feel and review of what is expected for alpine racing in preparation for the provincials next year.
 

    Despite Freson Bros. Tykes loss to Hanna over the weekend, there’s positives for the team.
    “We worked on some things in practice last week that we noticed in the game versus Trochu, and the kids responded well in the Hanna game,” says coach Dennis Olsen.
    “I am really proud of the kids for how well they listen and take instruction.  We have a really young team in comparison to the other teams we are playing.”
    Olsen notes the game with Hanna was only the team’s fifth game of the season, and the kids are adapting and progressing every game.
    The McDonald’s Novice Raptors won their weekend game against Chestermere 30 to 12.
    Coach Kit Clark says the team started slow then found their stride half way through the game.
    “The kids moved the puck around really well. I was really impressed with Ava Harrington and Tanner Moltun’s back-checking efforts.”
    The McDonald’s Raptors now stand second in Novice Tier 3, and play third place Airdrie at home this Saturday morning at 10:30.
    The Encana Atom Raptors also played a weekend game, winning 8 to 6 over Rockyford.
    “We started the game 5 - 0 and played a great first period,” says Coach Jeff Paarup.
    He says the second period was totally different as the kids didn’t show the same aggressive play.
    “The third period was better as the team got back to how they usually play.”
    Paarup says the two goalies were their players of the game.
    The Encana Atom’s  schedule has five regular season games in February with three of those played away.
    Hi-Way 9 Peewee Raptors won 3 - 2 over Vulcan and lost 4 - 1 to the 2nd ranked Foothills team.
    Coach Jason Ewing said the boys played very well in both games
    The game goals in Vulcan came from Kobe Ewing, Ryan Flemming and Darian Dart, with strong goaltending from Brayden Crone.
    The Foothills game goal came from Dale Pliva off a strong rush from Kaiden Morgan.
    “The team did an amazing job adapting to new offensive and defensive systems that were taught to the kids from Brian Curran of the Dragons,” says Ewing.
    “Brian came out to our practice and gave the players and coaches some great tips on how to better our game,” he explains.
    He says with more practice using coach Curran’s ideas, the team is looking forward to a strong finish to the year and a push for play offs.