Tigers off to stellar start at Hounds tournament

By Mo Cranker on November 18, 2017.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

The SEAC Tigers came into the annual Hockey Hounds Bantam Tournament with the hopes of making some noise — so far, they’re doing just that.

Thursday night saw the Tigers take on a highly-ranked Pursuit of Excellence at the Kinplex.

After the two teams exchanged early goals, the Tigers were able to establish, and hold on to a lead, beating the academy club 8-4.

“That was probably our best game of the year,” said Tigers head coach Jason Bartram. “We knew that they were going to be a skating team, so we knew that we had to skate hard and have a relentless forecheck. I think our skating was able to wear their defence down, and we kept putting pucks on the net. When you do that, good things happen.”

The Tigers had little time to rest, with their match against the Lloydminster Bobcats slated for 11 a.m. Friday at the Hockey Hounds Arena.

The Tigers and Bobcats exchanged goals in the first, and entered the second period at a 1-1 tie. Caleb Wyrostok score for SEAC.

SEAC got two goals in the second, one from Ethan Machan, and one from Roman Cherniak to give the Tigers a two-goal lead heading into the final frame.

The Tigers added one more goal midway through the third from Ty Moore, before giving up a power-play goal to the Bobcats.

Vann Yuhas added an empty-netter to give the Tigers a 5-2 win, and a 2-0 record on the tournament.

Both teams ran into penalty trouble during multiple points in the game, and Bartram says the team’s penalty kill was a difference-maker.

“All year our penalty kill has been great,” he said. “It’s just been so good for us. Our kids have been blocking shots all year. They’re really becoming a team, rather than just a group, and they’re really starting to buy into the little things they need to do to win games.”

In Tuesday’s match, the Tigers had more than 50 shots on goal, and gave up less than 15. Team captain Mason Mowat says he is happy to see the team play to its strengths.

“Our biggest asset is our speed, and when we play to that there’s not many teams that can keep up with us,” he said. “We’ve had some great goaltending and our power-play is starting to get going a bit. We just need to keep playing to our strengths.”

With the win, the Tigers will move on to Saturday’s semi-finals. Mowat says the team believes it can go all the way.

“We want to make a push and keep working towards the final,” he said. “This team hasn’t done anything in this tournament since 1999 I think, and I think in the past few years they’ve only got a few wins. We want to change that. We want to win it all and I think we can.”

Scores:Calgary Edge 3, Balgonie 1. – Grand Peace 3, Sherwood Park 1. – Edmonton SSAC 4, Delta Academy 3. – Spruce Grove 7, Swift Current 4. – West Central 5, Edmonton K of C 2 – Pursuit of Excellence 4, Prince Albert 3 – St. George’s 6, Fort Sask. 1 –

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