Weekend Bantam Highlights

Starting on the left coast, the PCAHA Tier 1 continued action over the weekend and a quick look at the standings show surprising Surrey leading the pack with a 3-1-0 record. Just behind are BWC who are 3-0-0 and Langley Eagles who are 2-0-1. Surprisingly enough, one of the favorites Abbotsford are just 1-2-1 with only 11 goals scored in the early going.

Moving over to the interior of B.C., a tournament was taking place in Kelowna. The final was played yesterday and to nobodies surprise it was Kamloops vs. POE. POE skated away with a convincing 4-0 victory to capture the crown. Josh Thrower who we expect to go in the top 2 rounds of the bantam draft had a convincing victory in a scrap.

Looking at some of the AMBHL highlights from over the weekend now. The Calgary Bisons were in Lethbridge in what was to be a showdown of two of the better teams in the south of the AMBHL. However it was the Bisons who walked away with a 10-3 win. Tanner Macmaster and Brayden Point each had 4 point nights in the win. Also over the weekend it was Airdrie winning 7-0 over Red Deer Black. Kyle Pauls and Tyler Wong each had 5 point nights. Pauls had 4 goals and 1 assist, while Wong had 2 goals and 3 assists. Malcolm Walilko turned aside 24 shots for the shutout.

A quick look at the AMBHL top teams:
Spruce Grove 8-0-0 32-12
SSAC 3-1-2 23-11
Sherwood PK 7-2-0 35-26
Leduc 6-3-0 50-23
Calgary Bisons 7-2-0 60-39
Airdrie 6-3-0 44-28

The Bisons continue to score the most goals per game at about 6.6 per game, while Spruce Grove are allowing only 1.5 per game.

In Saskatchewan over the weekend, Warman Wildcats were up in Meadow Lake for a pair of games and outscored them by a combined 18-6, winning 9-1 and 9-5. 97 born terrell Draude led the way over the weekend with 7 points in the 2 games played. Unity played a pair of games and won both by defeating Tisdale 6-2 and West Central 10-2. And in the marquis game of the weekend it was Prince Albert in Humboldt to play the Broncos. The Broncos defeated Prince Albert in the final of the Melville tournament but this time Prince Albert walked away with a 6-3 victory. Ryan Duret had 1 goal and 1 assist, Duret is expected to go in the top 3 rounds. Reid Gardiner was held to just 1 assist in the game, this coming after he scored 10-2-12 in 4 games in Melville.

Moving down south to the SSBHL, it was Estevan defeating 10-6. Leading the way for Estevan was Lynnden Pastachak with 4 goals and 1 assist. Pastachak leads the league so far with 10 goals and is 2nd in points with 15 behind team mate Chase McKersie. Weyburn defeated the Regina Canucks 9-1. For Weyburn both 97 born Regan Nagy and Nicholas Pouliot each had 3 goals in the win. Pouliot is the younger brother of Portland Winterhawks 2nd overall pick Derrick Pouliot. The Regina Oilers won a pair of games in Yorkton and Melville by 5-1 and 6-1 scores. Chris Belanger led the way for Regina with 4 points in the 2 games played. In a very competitive close game it was Balgonie over Swift Current 6-4. For Balgonie, Garrett Schmidt had 3 goals and highly touted Tim Vanstone had 1-2-3 in the loss.

Aside from Notre Dame in the south, it looks as though Weyburn, Estevan, Swift Current, Regina Oilers and Balgonie will have strong seasons.

In Manitoba, both the Sharks and Hawks won their weekend games. The Hawks beat Interlake 9-1 and now have scored 24 goals in their past 2 games. The Sharks beat the 3rd place Monarchs and remain in first place with a perfect 5-0-0 record.

The Eastman and Parkisimo AA leagues are now underway. I hope to have more on these leagues as early as next week when each team has played some games.

Finally this morning, the Medicine Hat Tournament teams are now in:
White
Colorado
Abbotsford
Sherwood Park
Calgary Royals
Red
Notre Dame
SSAC
Kamloops
San Jose
Green
POE
Winnipeg Hawks
Spruce Grove
Airdrie
Blue
Medicine Hat
BWC
Cloverdale
Leduc