Medicine Hat U15AAA SEAC Tiger net minder Sasha Shushkov redirects a puck off the post in the second period of a 2-1 win over the Pac Saints on Sunday at the Kinplex in their final game of the 50th Hockey Hounds tournament.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Hockey Hounds 50th U15AAA tournament came to a close Sunday in dramatic fashion.
The Northern Alberta Xtreme won the historic tournament with a 5-4 overtime thriller over the Lloydminster Lakers, marking the first Hockey Hounds championship for the academy.
NAX was presented with championship rings after the win, with one side reflecting the tournament’s 50th year. No previous ring has reflected which rendition of the tournament it was won in and it won’t again until they reach another milestone. A replica will be on display at the Hounds arena in the trophy case.
Hockey Hounds treasurer Dale Fuller says the OT final between two evenly matched teams gave them a perfect ending for the historic tournament. Throughout the weekend of action between the 16 teams in attendance, Fuller says there was some reflection on the previous 49 renditions of the tournament.
“Subconsciously you’re always going back to when other teams were here,” Fuller said. “I’ve been with the Hounds for 20-plus years, we look back to when we had other teams come and it’s all bitter sweet in some ways, but we move on and next year is the 51st.”
He says preparations for the 51st tournament will slowly get started as the winter months tick by with it ramping up into full steam in June ahead of the November 2024 tournament. He appreciated seeing former players in attendance and supporting the tournament over the weekend.
“It was nice to see some of the old guard from Medicine Hat that played for the Tigers,” said Fuller. “Kevin Undershute was here today and Chris St. Jacques was here, it was kind of neat to see those guys.”
Medicine Hat’s representative in the tournament, the U15AAA South East Athletic Club Tigers, finished seventh with a 2-1 win Sunday over the PAC Saints. They were a perfect 3-0 in the round robin before a 3-2 loss Saturday morning against the Leduc Oil Kings knocked them from the medal contention.
Head coach Mike Mueller says his team played the right way throughout the tournament but just lost in the one game they couldn’t afford to.
“We had a little struggle in our loss scoring goals, the shots were 42-26 in that game, their goalie stood on his head and it was just one of those games,” Mueller said.
Besides finishing seventh, the Tigers did well at the tournament award show on the Saturday. Goaltender Sasha Shushkov was named all-star goaltender and goaltender of the tournament. SEAC’s Logan Neuls was awarded the annual $2,500 scholarship for one SEAC player from the Maser family and the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Tigers came into the weekend with a 2-7-0-1 record in the Alberta Elite Hockey League and have two road games this upcoming weekend. Mueller wants his team to learn from their consistency in the tournament and apply it to the rest of the regular season.
“A tournament like this, that many games in a short amount of time, gets you into those habits and gets you into that frame of mind and just being consistent,” Mueller said. “So that’s what we want to be going through.”
