Whitehorse Daily Star

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WINNING LOOK – The Whitehorse pee wee Huskies await the presentations of their gold medalsin Vancouver on Sunday, with head coach Derek Johnstone standing in the background.

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GOLDEN – The pee wee Huskies returned from Vancouver this weekend with gold in their pocket. They are, from left to right on the bottom row, Kaelen Halowaty, Jaxon Tentrees, Keaton MacIntosh, Conner Labar, Taylor Bierlmeier, Nash Holmes, Zander Underhill, Kayce Saligo, Goalie Dylan Adams; top row Luke Cozens, Landon Cowper, Tyson Matthews and Jase Johnstone. Coaches Derek Johnstone, right, and Justin Halowaty.

Young Huskies go undefeated at B.C. Spring Showdown tourney

The Whitehorse pee wee Huskies won gold on the weekend at the B.C. Spring Showdown tournament in Vancouver after going undefeated.

By Chuck Tobin on May 1, 2018

The Whitehorse pee wee Huskies won gold on the weekend at the B.C. Spring Showdown tournament in Vancouver after going undefeated.

Jase Johnstone scored the only two goals in the final but it proved enough as the Huskies were able to hold the Chilliwack Chiefs to single marker in the first period.

“It was really great hockey,” coach Justin Halowaty told the Star upon his return to Whitehorse Monday. “It was tough, close games through the entire tournament.”

Head coach Derek Johnstone – who’s in Vancouver for rehabilitation after suffering a spinal injury in Whitehorse during recreational hockey this winter – was on the bench for the entire tournament.

“He was with us all weekend,” Halowaty said. “He was a great inspiration for the kids.”

The pee wee Huskies, all born in 2006, are part of the Whitehorse Huskies Spring Hockey Club, a club that supports a spring hockey program and travel to compete against other spring clubs down south.

Many of the 13 players who were in Vancouver for the weekend tournament have been playing together for a number of years now, Halowaty pointed out.

In their first spring tournament last month, the Desert Classic in Osoyoos, B.C., the Huskies finished with a record on one win and three losses.

They were not to be denied at the eight-team Showdown on the weekend.

They opened the round robin with a 3-0 win over the Premier Blazers from the North Shore, followed up with a 6-6 tie against the Richmond Junior Sockeyes and ended the preliminary round with a 3-3 tie against the Chilliwack.

With a record one win and two ties, the Huskies finished the round robin in fourth place, good enough to advance to the semi-final against the first-seeded B.C. Spartans. The Huskies won 8-3.

In the final, the Huskies faced off against the Chilliwack Chiefs for the second time.

The Chiefs jumped out to a 1-0 early in the first but Johnstone tied it later on in the period, and then scored the go-ahead goal in the second.

And Huskies goalie Dylan Adams kept the door shut after the lone marker in the first three minutes of the first.

“Every player contributed this weekend as the Huskies played as a true team with no individuals,” head coach Johnstone said in a statement from Vancouver. “Everyone played their roles and worked hard.”

The Huskies will travel to the Canada Cup West tournament in Kelowna, B.C. the weekend of May 10-13 for their last road trip of the spring.

Halowaty said the local spring hockey club send out a younger team of players born in 2008 for one tournament last year and the same team will be travelling to two tournament’s this spring, including the Canada Cup West tournament.

The club would like to add more age groups to the spring program in future years, he said, noting that many spring clubs down south have several age groups in their programs.

Comments (1)

Up 0 Down 0

George Leonard on May 2, 2018 at 9:17 am

Well done "HUSKIES" you the NORTH.

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