A group of young local eagles journeyed east last weekend, swooping down to clasp the Merritt Pee Wee Hockey Tournament trophy on Sunday (Nov. 4). The 樱桃视频Pee Wee Rec Eagles only lost one game on the way to the final against North Delta. Team manager Tom Sloan said the 12-year-olds were geared to win from the very start of the tournament, and their intensity never faded despite playing a marathon four games in just over 24 hours.
"We went in there not just on the premise of competing, we went in there to win it," said Sloan. "We knew we had a good team with some great kids and we were going to go in there and win the thing. They had that focus from day one."
The Eagles caught a strong gust early in the game, burying two goals in the first period. But North Delta evened the game before the end of the period.
"We went in to the dressing room with a 2-2 tie and said 'What's happening here? We've really got to pick up the pace!' and they sure did," said Sloan.
樱桃视频returned to the ice to pot two goals. There were some scary moments as they struggled to hold on to the lead while killing off a series of penalties causing five-on-threes.Still down 4-2, North Delta resorted to pulling their goalie in the final minutes but the eagles had already soared out of reach. A classic hockey celebration followed.
"It was incredible when the clock was ticking down, once the buzzer rang all the gloves, helmets went flying off and everyone jumped on the goalie," said Sloan. "It was a great experience."
Although definitely charged from the victory, the players were exhausted from basically playing constantly since Saturday morning (Nov. 3). After arriving in Merritt late Friday night, the Eagles played Cloverdale at 6 a.m., beating them 10-5. With hardly enough time to eat and air-out their gear, they suited up again at 11 a.m. for a 6-3 win against Merritt.
They finished off the hockey day in Merritt by playing the home team again for a 4-2 victory. Weary and already qualified for the Sunday afternoon final, 樱桃视频suffered their only loss in the morning. It's difficult to get pumped for a meaningless game when the championship awaits, said Sloan.
The Eagles are now waiting to be placed in a tier now that the exhibition and tier games are over. They suffered some big losses in the tier match-ups because last year's Eagles Pee Wee team dominated, winning a number of tournaments and championships. Therefore, most of the teams they faced were out of their league, said Sloan.
When play resumes, they should still be flying high after such a successful tournament in Merritt, said Sloan.
"They all played well and they all deserve to be MVPs in our eyes."
