Submitted Photo The Medicine Hat peewee AA Hounds celebrate their bronze medal win at Irvine on Sunday, March 31, 2019
They only lost one game at peewee AA hockey provincials, but the Medicine Hat Hounds wound up with bronze medals around their necks at the end of it.
At Irvine, the Hounds beat Edmonton’s SouthWest Zone Oil Kings 6-2 in the third-place game Sunday morning, relegated there due to a tiebreaker rule which meant a team they beat in the round robin played for gold.
Medicine Hat beat Leduc’s Roughnecks 3-1 Saturday, leaving the teams tied for second in the five-team standings. But Leduc went 2-2, while Medicine Hat was 1-1-2, and wins – not their head-to-head matchup – was the first tiebreaker.
Regardless, it was a proud finish for the host team, which only lost to rival South Central zone champion West Central on opening night. The Hounds picked up ties against Calgary’s Glenlake and the Oil Kings Friday.
In Sunday’s bronze game, third-period goals from Wyatt Dreger, Samuel Hynes and Josiah Jackson extended the lead to 6-1. Hynes had two goals on the day while Julian Laqua and Madden Kelly had the others. Beck Boiteau made 32 saves in net as the Hounds peppered Kings netminder Tanner Thomas with 54 shots.
In the final, Leduc shocked Glenlake 3-1 for the title, up 2-0 early and clamping down defensively.
