NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat U14 Mayhem goaltender Jacqueline LeBlanc celebrates at the final buzzer of the Mayhem's 6-3 gold medal win Dec. 3, 2023 at the Moose Rec Centre over Calgary South at the Ed Horvath Invitational.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It’s the most wonderful time of year for ringette fans in Medicine Hat.
The Medicine Hat Ringette Association’s annual Ed Horvath Invitational is this weekend, and the interprovincial tournament gets underway Friday with round-robin play extending into Saturday before playoffs and the finals to crown a winner on Sunday.
Two Medicine Hat teams defended home ice at last year’s tournament, the U14 Mayhem and U19 Live Wire. This year’s tournament will mark the first for the ringette association united under the moniker of Medicine Hat Mustangs.
Loralee Eastland coached the U14 Mustangs to a championship at the Ed Horvath last year ,and she’s looking forward to another rendition of the tournament.
“This is hands down my favourite tournament, and it’s not just because I live here,” Eastland said. “It’s incredibly well run, very well organized, and although it’s one of the bigger tournaments in Western Canada, we’re still a small city. So you get to watch a lot of different teams, you’re not running all over Calgary trying to get to different rinks. The camaraderie of the other teams in the south and those coming from Saskatchewan, this tournament has always had that. I know the officials love coming to this tournament. We feed the refs really well … you’re still allowed to go out and take pictures on the ice after a medal win and we’re still doing candy races this year at all age levels.
“It’s just those little, small touches that still makes this tournament one of the best in Western Canada.”
The U14 Mustangs are one of nine Medicine Hat groups and 40 total teams competing in the 93-game tournament, with games taking place at the Kinplex, Moose Rec Centre and Big Marble Go Centre.
Eastland says the U14 Mustangs have had a difficult start to their Chinook League season, trying to find a connection as a group. They finished in second at the Edmonton Silver Ring tournament Nov. 22-24, beating an undefeated St. Albert team.
“We went to that tournament, the girls are finally starting to click and be cohesive and understand what they can do,” Eastland said. “That’s what’s going to be exciting about this home tournament, we’re getting ready to not peak, but we’re on the uphill swing.”
The U14 Mustangs open their tournament Friday at 10:45 a.m. at the Kinplex against Lethbridge. They’ll face South Calgary later in the day, 4:15 p.m. at the Moose Rec Centre. The U14 Mustangs finish the round robin on Saturday, facing Strathmore at 8:15 a.m. at the Kinplex and 3:45 p.m. against Regina at the Moose Rec Centre.
Eastland says there are only five returning players from last year’s championship team, but she adds the young team knows the advantages of playing at home and how they can capitalize on the local crowd.
“All the fans that are there, the little girls coming out to watch the bigger girls play, it’s really exciting,” Eastland said. “For us, it will be that clicking moment, because most of our team is first years at U14, some of these girls haven’t been exposed to this kind of competition yet either. So it’s the comfort level, working together, understanding that everyone has a role to play on the team, and if we’re all doing that role, then we’re going to be successful.”
Medicine Hat round-robin schedule
U10 Step 1
Friday, 8:15 a.m., Big Marble Go Centre, MH Mustangs vs. Calgary.
Friday, 2:15 p.m., BMGC, MH Mustangs vs. South Calgary.
Saturday, 9:45 a.m., BMGC, MH Mustangs vs. Airdrie.
U10 Step 2
Friday, 9:45 a.m., BMGC, MH Mustangs vs. Bow View.
Friday, 3:45 p.m., BMGC, MH Mustangs vs. Lethbridge.
Saturday, 9:30 a.m., BMGC, MH Mustangs vs. Airdrie
U10 Step 3
Friday, 8:15 a.m., Moose Rec, MH Mustangs vs. Bow View Boom
Friday, 1:30 p.m., Kinplex, MH Mustangs vs. Lethbridge.
Saturday, 10:45 a.m., Kinplex, MH Mustangs vs. Regina
Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Kinplex, MH Mustangs vs. Calgary.
U12B
Friday, 9:30 a.m., Kinplex, MH Mustangs vs. Bow View.
Friday, 2:45 p.m., Moose, MH Mustangs vs. Regina Badgers.
Saturday, 9:30 a.m., Kinplex, MH Mustangs vs. Regina Cougars.
U14B
Friday, 10:45 a.m., Kinplex, MH Mustangs vs. Lethbridge.
Friday, 4:15 p.m., Moose Rec., MH Mustangs vs. South Calgary
Saturday, 8:15 a.m., Kinplex, MH Mustangs vs. Strathmore.
Saturday, 3:45 a.m., Moose, MH Mustangs vs. Regina.
U16B
Friday, 10:45 a.m., Moose, MH Mustangs vs. Bow View.
Friday, 5:15 p.m., Kinplex, MH Mustangs vs. Regina.
Saturday, 12:30 p.m., Moose, MH Mustangs vs. Buffalo Plains.
U19B
Friday, 12:15 p.m., Moose, MH Mustangs vs. Bow View.
Friday, 8:15 p.m., Kinplex, MH Mustangs vs. Buffalo Plains Wild.
Saturday 5 p.m., Moose, MH Mustangs vs. Buffalo Plains Blitz.
Saturday 8 p.m., Moose, MH Mustangs vs. Regina.
