NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
St. George’s School captain Andrew Cristall carries the Hockey Hounds Major Bantam Hockey Tournament trophy back to his teammates after winning it for a third straight year with an 8-3 victory over the West Van Warriors on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019 at the Kinplex.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
They may hail from Vancouver, but St. George’s School is starting to look at Medicine Hat as a home away from home.
The Canadian Sport School Hockey League squad rallied to their third consecutive Hockey Hounds Major Bantam Hockey Tournament title with a commanding 8-3 victory over the West Van Warriors on Sunday at the Kinplex.
“I’m just very proud of these kids,” said St. George’s head coach Todd Harkins, adding Medicine Hat has been a second home over the past three Novembers. “It’s exciting for us to come back here and try to defend our title because the people here in the town – the way they treat us in the restaurants and the hotels has been great. We just love coming back here and being a part of it.”
The victory marks the first time in the tournament’s 47-year history that a team has rallied to three straight championships.
“Winning three times in a row is obviously a great feeling,” said St. George’s captain Andrew Cristall, who took home the title of top scorer with 13 points in the round robin and also earned a spot on the tournament all-star team.”Our team has definitely gotten closer from the tournament with all the time spent in the hotel hanging out with everybody. I feel like this is definitely going to help us in our league play, pushing forward with the momentum we have.”
Arjun Bawa led St. George’s to the title with three goals and an assist in the final. Cristall and forward Declan Warburton each added a goal and a helper, while Hoyt Stanley, Owen Beckner and Justin Yee added individual tallies.
Diego Buttazzoni and William McIsaac each recorded a goal and an assist for West Van in the loss, while Justin Ivanusec had one goal to his credit.
St. George’s battled its share of adversity to clinch the milestone title, from a 5-3 round-robin loss to the Balgonie Prairie Storm, to some bumps and bruises along the way. Alternate captain Alex Cordero suffered an ankle injury in the round robin, but managed to make it back onto the ice in a limited role for Saturday’s final.
“It kind of sucks I couldn’t play much because of my injury, but we played good this weekend,” said Cordero. “We started off a little rough, but after the coach said a few things we really came together and started playing for each other, not just with each other.”
While the South East Athletic Club Tigers were held out of the quarter-finals after going 1-1-1 through the round robin, the tournament still had its share of bright spots. The two teams finishing ahead of SEAC in the group stage – the Martensville Marauders and Cariboo Cougars – both reached the semifinals before bowing out. The Tigers battled to a 4-4 tie with Cariboo and suffered a 4-2 loss to Martensville despite outshooting them 35-29.
What’s more, Tabby captain Josh Van Mulligen left with a handful of accolades – earning the title of top defenceman as well as the SEAC scholarship award and a place on the tournament all-star team.
The Tigers closed out their weekend with a 6-5 overtime victory against Delta Academy Saturday and a 5-4 loss to the Airdrie Xtreme Sunday.
Also featured on the tournament all-star team were Martensville forward Trae Johnson, Prairie Storm forward Ben Rich, Northeast Wolfpack defenceman Rhett Ravndahl and Delta goaltender Jonathan Hicks.
Riche also earned tournament MVP and player of the tournament, while Hicks was awarded most outstanding goaltender.
Cariboo’s Miguel Marques was named the tournament’s most sportsmanlike player, while Edmonton SSAC was the most sportsmanlike team and Pursuit of Excellence’s Byron Ritchie earned the nod for best coach.
