Kelowna is hosting an eight team Bantam AAA Tournament this weekend that commenced Friday and ends Sunday.
The pools are:
Pool A - Kelowna, South Delta, Okotoks Oilers, Calgary Stampeders
Pool B - OHA, Kamloops, Langley, Campbell River
Friday Games
OHA 13 Langley 3
In the opening game OHA dominated the puck possession early and never looked back. Brad Morrison used his speed and hands on multiple occasions to walk around the Langley defence and create chances for himself and several others. In the end he finished with 4 goals and 4 assists. The game was very chippy in the third period as OHA continued to dominate the scoresheet and most of the second half of the game was straight time. Brendan Barry picked up the win for OHA.
Kelowna 5 Okotoks 4
This was a very close and even game. Both teams played a very physical style of hockey and have significant size in their lineup. Mason McCarty and Eric Theander were very strong for Okotoks and created several scoring opportunities. The Kelowna offence was spread around the lineup but their big strong forwards, in particular Spencer Coppan and Nicholas Robbins were a major factor in wearing down the Okotoks defence.
Campbell River 5 Langley 2
Langley has several first year players in their lineup and will be a very good team next year. Campbell River used a strong game from their defence to outwork Langley. The game was close going into the third period but Campbell River seemed to want the game more and scored a few key goals in the third to win 5 to 2.
Okotoks 5 South Delta 4
Eric Theander was the player of the game in this one He used his speed to create several chances and scored a key breakaway goal late in the game to shift the momentum after South Delta tied the game in the third when Okotoks ran into penalty trouble. This was a very close game in all aspects. South Delta had several power play opportunities but were unable to convert. The Okotoks goalie Jacob Standen made several important saves in the third and picked up the win.
Kelowna 7 Calgary Stampeders AA 3
The Stampeders are currently leading the Calgary AA League and wanted to use this tournament to see where they stand vs AAA teams They came out skating well and working hard. They didn't get many chances but despite being outshot 19 to 5 in the first period they converted twice and lead 2 to 0 after the first. After a very sluggish start Kelowna slowly took over the game and the second half wasn't a close affair as Kelowna dominated and rolled to a 7 - 3 final.
OHA 7 Kamloops 4
In the final game of the day, OHA came out very fast in this game and Brad Morrison had a hattrick in the first ten minutes and was creating chances all over the ice with his puck pursuit and quickness. OHA has a very strong passing game and uses this and a strong cycle to dominate puck possession down low. OHA also has a very dynamic powerplay and used this to capitalize several times. Brady Reagan contributed with several shots from the point creating rebound opportunities and a very strong defensive game. Kamloops changed their goaltending late in the second down 5 to 2 as Josh Shanks left the game and Bailey DePalma came in to the net. Overall OHA outshot and outplayed Kamloops in all aspects in the first two periods and were up 7 to 2 going into the third period. Kevin Davis started rushing the puck in the third period and had a very strong period creating several chances. Kamloops played much better in the third period but the final was 7 to 4. Ethan Shovanek picked up the win for OHA.
Play resumes today for the round robin portion of the event. The top two teams in each pool will crossover into semi-finals tomorrow morning with the finals taking place tomorrow afternoon.
10 comments:
OHA won this tournament with ease - for anyone doubting BC > Alta hockey at the Tier 1 level this year, Okotoks AAA were handled pretty easily by OHA & Kelowna. Kamloops should concede their Med Hat spot to OHA ;-)
OHA was not an overly physical team, but dominated with speed and puck possession. They made teams pay on the PP as well. Couple really strong kids, balanced with good depth. I believe they would have competed very well in Med Hat.
Okotoks is sitting at the bottom of the AMBHL. I wouldn't be making any assumption.
OHA is a small team that won't hit. In Kelowna , they benefited from officials that called too many head contact penalties on good hits. As the season goes on the bigger more physical team will adjust to the new rule and beat them.
oha is a good hockey club but brad morrison seems to put them over the edge i went to watch their game against okatoks and it was a pretty close game until he scored 3 goals in 1 shift and it was over
Looking at the teams.The kelowna tourny was basicly tier 2.Not a huge deal.Still,congrats to OHA.
RE: Okotoks - OHA, the Oilers got something like 8 shots... that's not a close game - easy bagel for OHA keeper. Okotoks have been in close games in Alta and looked shell-shocked to run up against elite BC hockey.
You don't have to run around and hit if you have the puck on your stick most of the time... :)
Funny thing is they did not run up against elite BC Hockey...OHA and Kelowna are not Elite..They are decent teams.
There are only 2 elite teams in BC. And OHA or Kelowna arent among the. POE and BWC are it. Lets see how many NSWC guys respond to this one, lol.
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