This year has certainly been one to remember for the Cold Lake Jr. B Ice as the team wrapped up its season at the provincial championships in Wainwright this past weekend, returning home with a bronze medal – the organizations first in team history.
This year has certainly been one to remember for the Cold Lake Jr. B Ice as the team wrapped up its season at the provincial championships in Wainwright this past weekend, returning home with a bronze medal – the organizations first in team history.
After recording wins in four of the team's five games, spirits were obviously high amongst players and coaching staff alike, as they each reflected on the organization's most decorated season to date.
Head coach Neil Langridge said he was incredibly proud of the players' performances over the weekend and that they had represented the Lakeland magnificently well.
“When you think that this year, coming into the tournament, we considered ourselves as one of the underdogs, we've done very well,” Langridge said. “There were teams playing here this weekend of the highest quality and when you consider we haven't even recorded a win at provincials over the last two years, it makes our achievements this time around even more special.”
The Ice kicked off their tournament by defeating the Wetaskiwin Iceman 7-4 on Thursday night before defeating both the Red Deer Vipers and Grande Prairie JDA Kings to become the only team in the tournament to win all three games in round robin play.
Those three games saw Cold Lake's explosive forward Dallas Ansell record ten points, making him the tournament's point leader, with Langridge noting it's nice to be able to call upon a player of such incredible talent.
“I've been saying it all year, you can't give Dal enough credit,” Langridge said. “He came up with the goods for us again this weekend and having him alongside Niko (Bourget) and Matty (Laboucane) on the first line is huge. He's a big player for us and I wouldn't replace him with anybody.”
As the Ice were in the process of wrapping up round robin play on Saturday morning, the Sherwood Park Knights had already dumped out the hosting Wainwright Bisons with relative ease, setting up a semi-final showdown between the Knights and Ice later that night.
Going into the game, Langridge was hopeful that his team could pull off another huge victory, but admitted the grueling schedule was beginning to show on the players, who left everything they had on the ice in their opening three games.
The result of that saw the Knights comfortably defeat the Ice by a score of 5-1. Despite the loss, Langridge said he was incredibly proud of what the team was able to accomplish and they were looking forward to the bronze medal game the following day.
“The boys have been playing a heck of a weekend but having to play two games in one day was uncharted territory for a lot of these players and unfortunately that told in the game (against Sherwood Park), in the end we just ran out of gas,” Langridge said. “But the boys certainly exceeded my expectations this weekend by coming out and getting three big wins in the round robin, of course they were a little disappointed by the loss, but the bronze medal I think helped make up for it.”
As a result of the loss to the Knights, the Ice saw themselves competing in the early game on Sunday as they went to battle with the Red Deer Vipers for the second time in 48 hours. The rejuvenated squad took control early on and went into the third period with a 2-1 lead. However, what followed was an Ice team fans are used to seeing, as Cold Lake added another three tallies in the third period before conceding two late goals amidst probable premature celebrations, for a final score of 5-3.
The players then took to the ice with their newly earned provincial bronze medals, celebrating the end of what was an incredible season.
Speaking at the end of the game, Langridge said it was a huge accomplishment for the team to place at provincials, once more stating how proud he was of their performances over the course of the weekend.
“To come out here and win four games out of a possible five is huge,” Langridge said. “Of course, it wasn't the colour of medal we were hoping for, but it's a huge achievement for the boys and they've really done not only Cold Lake, but the entire Lakeland proud.”
Forward Christian Nypower, who was unable to dress for the team's semi-final and bronze medal games due to a stomach bug, said it was an unbelievable feeling to have won a medal at the province's premier junior B tournament.
“It's nice to have something to remember this incredible season by,” Nypower said. “We've played really well all year, carried that into this tournament and really it's a nice treat to have come out with the win in the last game.”
Langridge was also keen to point out how important the supporters had been over the course of the weekend, with over a hundred Cold Lake fans in attendance for each of their games.
“You know, everybody always says they have the best fans in the league, but I can honestly say, and you can ask anyone in the league that we play in, we have the support that is by far the best,” Langridge said. “They travel town to town, rink to rink to cheer the boys on – they're an amazing group of supporters and we can't even begin to thank them enough.”
As is always the case, the conclusion of a season almost ceremoniously goes hand in hand with tears and goodbye's associated with final-year skaters hanging up their junior B jerseys for the last time.
It's the end of an era for the Cold Lake Ice as captain Niko Bourget of Bonnyville waved goodbye to an organization he said has been very good to him, and he'll be leaving alongside fellow veterans Ashton Restau, Matt Laboucane, goalie Dustin Hyde and top-scorer Dallas Ansell.
While it may be an emotional time for all involved with the organization, Bourget was keen to point out how much fun he's had playing for the Ice over the last four years, especially during this last season as captain.
“It's been a real honour and a lot of fun to have captained this team this year,” Bourget said. “We've had an incredible, young core this year and I'm so proud of how they've played not only just this weekend, but all season long. They've been great.”
Now that his time with the Ice has come to an end, Bourget was able to reflect on what he described as “some of the best years of my life.”
“I think the thing I'll take most with me from my time with the Ice is the memories,” he said. “I've met some incredible people through this organization who have gone on to become great friends. It's just been a blast playing here and I really couldn't have asked for anymore from the organization.”
Also leaving the Ice this year is forward Dallas Ansell. During the regular season, Ansell accumulated 110 points in 34 games and although he would be eligible to play for one more year, he said it's time he moved on with his life.
“I'm going to University in Edmonton in the fall, so I think this is probably going to be my last year with the Ice,” Ansell said. “So to be able to win a bronze medal in what is potentially my last game is awesome. It's definitely a bit of an emotional time knowing you're done – I'm not usually much of a crier, but the tears are starting to come. It's sad, especially with the 21-year-olds who we know for sure won't be able to play next year.”
Speaking at the conclusion of the bronze medal game, Langridge admitted it was a little strange knowing some of the team's more prominent players were moving on and concluded by summing up how he feels this year has been for the Ice.
“It was a hell of a run for us this year, and the boys finished it off in the best way, by recording a win,” Langridge said. “I couldn't be more proud of the boys after this weekend, they dug deep and battled in every game we played. Each and every one of them can hold their heads high after this incredible season.”
