SAHA beats Northstars 5-0 in second Circle K Classic game

By James Tubb on December 28, 2022.

The South Alberta Hockey Academy picked up another win at the Circle K Classic on Wednesday.

The local hockey academy shutout the Calgary Northstars 5-0 to remain perfect in their pool action at the U18 Invitational tournament located in Calgary. SAHA entered the contest off a 4-2 win Tuesday night against the Saskatoon Blazers to open their tournament.

Head coach Brayden Desjardins said their win Wednesday was a testament to the team’s preparation.

“Our leaders did a good job making sure our team was ready and when the puck dropped w we’re ready to go, so we did a good job,” Desjardins said. “We had a bit of a slim lead heading into the second and our guys just didn’t deviate, they played the same way the whole way through it and it’s nice to see them get rewarded. That’s a big win for us.”

SAHA didn’t waste time getting on the board Wednesday with Kade Duell tipping home a shot 4:06 into the contest. He redirected a shot from forward Gavin McKenna to open the scoring, Matthew Paranych had the second assist. That was the only offence of the period, SAHA outshot the Northstars 17-6 with two power play opportunities.

They continued their offensive push in the second frame when Paranych found the back of the net for his first of the tournament, coming 3:55 into the period. McKenna and goaltender Zach Zahara had the assists on the goal. A little under six minutes later, SAHA struck again when Sammy Hynes fired a wrist shot up and over Calgary net minder Cameron Doucette for a 3-0 lead. Noah Dziver and Kolby Gapter had the helpers on Hynes power play marker.

With 1:33 left in the period Dziver picked the pocket of a Calgary defender beside the net and sent a pass to Brett Calhoon who wasted no time and put it in the back of the net. Brett Schrock had the second assist on the goal as SAHA led 4-0 through 40 minutes, outshooting the Northstars 29-12.

SAHA added one more for good measure in the third period when Calhoon found the back of the net for his second of the game, scoring on a power play 4:26 into the period. Paranych and McKenna wrapped up three point days each with assists on the goal.

Between the pipes Zahara turned aside all 13 shots he faced in the shutout 5-0 win over Calgary. Across the ice from him, Doucette made 36 saves.

SAHA sits in first place of their pool with their final game before the playoff rounds set for Thursday at 4 p.m. against the St. Louis Blues. Desjardins says they’ll unwind from the win and watch Team Canada face Germany at the World Juniors before dialling in for their next game.

” The biggest thing for us is we want to keep playing the way we’re playing,” Desjardins said. “We don’t want to change anything, we want to keep building to get to the medal rounds. We’re not looking to have to find our game after a sloppy one tomorrow. We’ll enjoy this one for a few hours, watch the Canada game and then get refocused and ready for St. Louis.”

See Thursday’s Medicine Hat News for a full story on SAHA’s first two games at the Classic.