News | Alberta Minor Roller Hockey Association

AMRHA News

2011 Inline Hockey Junior Olympics

July 10, 2011

U18

It was down to the last day of competition. Game time is 10:30 am against Tour Raw Steel. In the past, when the games really counted, Alberta turns it on. Can we do it again? The game score looked close but in reality, Alberta was easily controlling the play. At the end of the 1^st period the score was 3-1 for Alberta. Both teams added another goal in the 2^nd but Tour Raw Steel could not close the gap. Alberta survived the qualifying round and was moving on to the Semi-finals.

We are in the playoffs with our opponents the Reebok Junior Ducks. The game started at 4:30 pm. This was going to be tough with the Ducks having the advantage of the home town crowd. It was going to take a lot of discipline to move on to the gold medal final. Just as the coaches had predicted, it was a very gritty game. At this point the refs were letting a lot of the contact go, as they did not want to be the deciding factor in the game.

By 7:39 of the 1^st period, Alberta had scored 3 unanswered goals and it was looking like the team from Alberta would be moving on to the gold medal game without too much problem. Maybe a little bit of the over confidence lead to defensive breakdowns; but the end result was the Ducks scoring 2 goals before the end of the 1^st.

The 2^nd period started with Team Alberta getting too physical and receiving penalties. The Ducks took advantage of the man advantage and the score was soon tied 4-4. With 2:16 left in the 2^nd period, Alberta took the lead again and it really looked like we were going to get a chance at another gold medal. Unfortunately with 0:39 left and a defensive breakdown, the Ducks scored another goal. It looked like Alberta’s fate would be determined in OT.

Play was fast and furious when at the 6 minute mark the Ducks got a 2 on 1 and they made it count.

Ducks move on to the Gold Medal game. Team Alberta would be playing for Bronze.

The Bronze medal game began at 9:00 pm with Team Alberta matched up against Bauer Riot. The team was not sure what they had left after playing 5 games in 2 days but they were serious about bringing another medal back to Alberta.

The game started out exactly as you would expect in a medal final. Both teams were pushing hard and trading goals throughout the 1^st period. At the end of the 1^st the score was 3-3 and Alberta was getting a little nervous. This resulted in them coming out flat for the start of the 2^nd period and Bauer Riot capitalized on it. The score was suddenly 4-3.

Realizing that things had to change quickly, the coaching staff called a time out and refocused the team. It worked! Team Alberta scored 4 unanswered goals in the 2^nd. Final score 8-4 and Team Alberta won the Bronze medal.