Southern Alberta Hockey Academy squeezes in two-game season

By KELLEN TANIGUCHI on June 22, 2021.

ktaniguchi@medicinehatnews.com@@kellentaniguchi

The Southern Alberta Hockey Academy U18 Prep teams were on the ice for games this weekend for the first time in 32 weeks.

The men’s team lost 9-1 to the Northern Alberta Xtreme on Saturday but finished off their season with a 6-2 win over the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Edmonton on Sunday.

Although the team only played the two games this year, head coach Brayden Desjardins says the players were excited. The team played with nine forwards and seven defencemen in the first game and they had just five defencemen for their win on Sunday.

“The guys were excited. They worked hard. Obviously, when we play with that short of a bench, our conditioning was a big thing,” said Desjardins. “The guys have worked hard in the gym all year. They never complained and they came to work every single day … it was really nice that we could win it and get our guys some exposure. Some guys got some attention from some junior teams, which is really exciting for them.”

Quintin Ureiner, 18, was one of those players who got attention from junior teams. Ureiner says playing in the two games this weekend gave the team exposure some other players didn’t get this year.

“Everybody just wants exposure to play at the next level, so finally being able to showcase your skills and what you’ve been working on for eight months is cool. You just have to make do with the opportunity, even though it was just a weekend, it’s still better than nothing,” he said.

Ureiner has been talking with a few teams and he hopes to play Junior A hockey in Alberta next season. He adds the U18 Prep team has been practising all year and to finally get to play a game was exciting.

“Usually, you’re practising and then every weekend you’re playing and using all those skills. But, practising for eight months and not being able to play, you get pretty anxious to play, and when it finally happens it’s a great feeling,” said Ureiner.

The SAHA U18 Prep women’s team was also on the ice this weekend, losing 7-1 and 5-1. Head coach Evan Vossen says it was a nice way for the girls to finish off the year after just being able to practise this season.

“It was great to get out there, the girls had good energy and at this point and time, regardless of if it is hockey, just getting out and trying to get back to a form of normalcy is good

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