The Grand Forks Atom B hockey team performed admirably, going 4-0-1 in the playoffs the weekend of March 3 in Kaslo, B.C.
While the team fell a little short in the final, Head Coach Craig MacLellan is still happy with the team’s effort.
Besides a 4-3 OT loss to Kaslo in the final, the team beat the Castlegar 2 team 1-0, Beaver Valley 2-1, the Castlegar 1 team 6-4 and managed to beat Beaver Valley a second time 4-1.
“The kids just played their hearts out, it was awesome. I was so proud of them in Kaslo. They played their hearts out and unfortunately we fell a little bit short in the final but they deserved to win,” MacLellan said.
The team is co-ed and a number of female players stepped up in the playoffs, according to MacLellan.
“Savannah Menzies and Emily Stewart, who joined us at Christmas time, both managed to get their first goals in Kaslo, so it was pretty exciting for them,” the coach said.
For player Kieran Nordman the playoffs were exciting.
“At the playoffs we did really well. Our coach made us work hard and it really worked and everyone on our team wanted the puck,” said Nordman.
“We passed it a lot and we did great.”
The team was in Cranbrook for a tournament this past weekend and despite almost taking it all last week, the coach said this weekend was more about having fun and it might be a chance for some players to get some more experience.
“Most of my team is able to go but unfortunately there are some players that aren’t able to go but we are going to take a few senior novice players that are going to be playing Atom next year and they’re going to fill our roster,” explained MacLellan.
“There’s no pressure and obviously, if we can do well it’s great but there are no expectations.”