For the first time in six years the Alberta Cup has gone South.
Okotokians Gage Alexander, Nathan Fox, Lucas Watkins, Hayden Schmidt and Team South went undefeated en route to a convincing 5-1 win over Team Northwest in the tournament final to claim the Alberta Cup on championship Sunday at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
“It was definitely a special moment knowing a month ago you were in zone camp with 240 kids and not knowing you’ll be in that position a month later,” said Alexander, a 6-foot-5 netminder. “It was just a great experience with all the guys and definitely something to remember.”
Schmidt notched the game-winning goal in the second period on the powerplay as Team South led from start to finish, comfortably taking the championship game.
There was steady progression throughout the five-day event from a team with high expectations going into the tournament. Team South went 2-0-1 in a round-robin to move on the playoff round.
“We were confident in our abilities, but didn’t want to be too confident and think we had it in the bag,” Fox said. “We just prided ourselves on working hard and out-working the other team and letting talent take care of itself.”
Team South opened the competition against the other finalist, skating to a 2-2 tie with Northwest.
“We picked up that they had a very aggressive fore-check,” said Watkins, an alternate captain with the Rocky Mountain Raiders. “Our d-men had to move the puck up quick. If we chipped it out of the zone we would have odd man rushes.”
Four straight victories followed starting with a 7-2 romp over Calgary North.
Alexander made 31 saves while Schmidt added an assist in the runaway victory.
Fox found the back of the net as South edged Edmonton Blue by a 4-1 count to finish round robin at 2-0-1 and move onto the A-semifinal.
Alexander backstopped South to its crucial 2-1 victory in the semifinal over Edmonton South, turning aside 20 shots in the triumph. South defenceman Anson McMaster, the Siksika-based captain of the Rocky Mountain Raiders, netted the game-winner in a two-point effort.
Alexander, fresh off a provincial title with the Okotoks Bantam AA Oilers, finished the tournament with a .940 save percentage and 1.50 goals against average.
“All the guys just really helped me out considering I did play AA this year and how high the pace was this tournament compared to where I was this whole year,” he said. “I learned that I can compete with the best, that I can push myself past the limit I thought I was comfortable at and can still play well at those high levels.”
Featuring the top 2002 born players in the province, the Alberta Cup is an identification event for the Team Alberta program and serves as a last-chance scouting event in advance of the Western Hockey League Bantam Draft on May 4.
“This event is so fun. I love that you get kids from all over and have to bring them together for a short term competition,” said Team South coach Jamie Steer, the operations co-ordinator for Okotoks Minor Hockey Association. “I had a lot of talent this year, I know that, but just because you have the talent you still have to bring them together and these kids came together really well. It’s a credit to them.”
Steer, who has been involved with Okotoks minor hockey for 13 years, guided Calgary South to the Alberta Cup championship at last year’s event and won the tournament as a player.
“Doing South and having kids that I’ve taken their registration from the time they’ve been five years old, coached a couple of them, had a lot of them on the ice, it is nice to reward them,” Steer added. “It has come a long way. If people can remember five, six years back our Bantam AAA team was a laughing stock.
“We’ve been one of the better teams in the rural in the South for the last four years, we’ve come a long way and credit to our coaches. We have some really good young coaches in Okotoks minor and credit to the kids. I think they got through the mentality of just being a small town to being a pretty good hockey centre.”
