FILE PHOTO
Medicine Hat's U19 ringette team will look to repeat their fortunes from the 2022 Ed Horvath tournament into this year. The local ringette tournament involving team's from Western Canada gets underway Friday.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Medicine Hat ringette will be on display this week for teams from Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The annual Ed Horvath Invitational Ringette tournament gets underway Friday with games scheduled for 34 teams at three rinks across Medicine Hat.
The U19 Live Wire enter the tournament with a 6-1-1 record in Chinook League play and are coming off a two-win weekend. Head coach Rod Thompson says there is a lot of excitement from his team as they get to play in front of friends and family and face off against new teams.
It’s his first Ed Horvath as head coach but he has been behind a bench for 10 years. He says there’s been a lot to enjoy about coaching the Live Wire this season.
“With the (U19) age group, I’m pretty fortunate because they do a lot of self learning,” Thompson said. “They know all the drills, they know the plays, a mature group of young ladies who have exceptional work ethic and great attitudes. They just support one another, they go out there and have fun. That’s what allows them to win games.”
The Live Wire enter the weekend with a group that has had success at the tournament before, with the formally named U14 Mud Dawgs and U19 Chicken Hawks winning gold at the 2022 Ed Horvath tournament.
The Live Wire have already won a tournament this season, putting their total season record at 10-1-1 after winning gold against teams in Sherwood Park. Thompson says that early tournament success gives them an idea of how they’ll compete this weekend.
“That first tournament of the year is always a measuring stick because you go into the season and you have an idea of how you might size up against other teams, but you really don’t know until you play in that tournament setting,” Thompson said. “A tournament where the girls are playing four or five games in a short amount of time, that really shows how durable they are and how they’re able to weather the storm over a tournament setting.”
The Live Wire open their tournament Friday with a 12:45 p.m. contest at the Kinplex against the St. Albert Riot. They’ll also face the Buffalo Plains Outlaws later in the day, playing at 6 p.m. at the Moose. They’ll wrap up their round-robin play Saturday evening against the Bowview Bobcats in a 4:45 p.m. contest at the Moose Rec Centre.
Thompson says their biggest strength in the tournament, as it has been through the early parts of the season, will be a group that plays for one another and does so with pace.
“The biggest thing is the girls getting together, supporting one another and having great attitudes and working together,” Thompson said. “I know that in previous years, and I don’t think this year is any different, Medicine Hat has always had an excellent reputation for being able to skate, and out skate teams. That’s probably the one thing that really sticks out the most is we have a group of very, very strong skaters.”
Medicine Hat round-robin schedules
U10 Step 1
Friday 9 a.m., Big Marble Go Centre, MH Green vs. MH Yellow
Friday 2:30 p.m., BMGC, MH Green vs. Airdrie Little Stingers
Friday 2:30 p.m., BMGC, MH Yellow vs. Indus Unicorns
Saturday 9 a.m., BMGC, MH Yellow vs. Airdrie Little Stingers
Saturday 9 a.m., BMGC, MH Green vs. Indus Lightning
U10 Step 2
Friday 10 a.m., BMGC, MH Black vs. Calgary Golden Dragons
Friday 3:30 p.m., BMGC, MH Black vs. Spicy Pickles
Saturday 8 a.m., Moose Rec Centre, MH Black vs. Airdrie Icebergs
U10 Step 3
Friday 9 a.m., Kinplex, MH Gators vs. Regina Yeti
Friday 1 p.m., Moose, MH Gators vs. Feisty Panda
Saturday 8 a.m., Moose Rec Centre, MH Gators vs. Sherwood Park Bobcats
U12B
Friday 10:15 a.m., Kinplex, Med Hat vs. Lethbridge Rattlers
Friday 3:30 p.m., Moose, Med Hat vs. Strathmore Hurricanes
Saturday 9:15 a.m., Kinplex, Med Hat vs. Calgary Frostbite
U12C
Friday 10:15 a.m., Moose, Med Hat vs. Bowview
Friday 2:15 p.m., Kinplex, Med Hat vs. Killer Whales
Saturday 10:30 a.m., Moose, Med Hat vs. Airdrie Eclipse
U14B
Friday 11:30 a.m., Kinplex, MH Mayhem vs. Regina Inferno
Friday 3:30 p.m., Kinplex, MH Mayhem vs. South Calgary
Saturday 10:30 a.m., Kinplex, MH Mayhem vs. Regina Raptors
U16B
Friday 11:30 a.m., Moose, MH Mercury vs. Regina Riot
Friday 6:30 p.m., Kinplex, MH Mercury vs. South Calgary
Saturday 11:45 a.m., Kinplex, MH Mercury vs. Saskatoon Stealers
U19B
Friday 12:45 p.m., Kinplex, MH Live Wire vs. St Albert Riot
Friday 6p.m., Moose, MH Live Wire vs. Buffalo Plains Outlaws
Saturday 4:45 p.m., Moose, MH Live Wire vs. Bowview Bobcats
