Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader
The playoffs started for the U18 Thunder with a 6 – 1 victory over Edson, in Edson, on Feb. 26.
Slave Lake dominated the game and Edson probably did well to surrender only half a dozen goals on 55 shots.
Cole de Champlain got two for the visitors, with Jethro Green, Mitchell Laboucan, Josh Dumaresque and Ethan Ching also scoring. Ryder Hall stopped 22 shots for the win.
The Thunder play three games this weekend, starting Friday night in Winfield. On Saturday, they host BRK and Tofield is in town on Sunday.
U15
The Slave Lake U15 Thunder got off to a great start in their Tier 2 league playoffs, winning the first two games of a round robin format arrangement.
On Feb. 19 they beat Battle River 6 – 3; back home on Feb. 20 they shut out visiting Camrose 4 – 0.
“I figure we need two wins to advance,” says head coach Dwain Hill.
All six teams in Tier 2 made the playoffs. Each team plays four games to see which four teams advance to the next round.
The Thunder were the last place team in their division in the regular season, but that had a lot to do with playing so many Tier I teams (70 per cent of the games, Hill figures).
Not only that, they started playing better towards the end of the season.
“They’re starting to slowly gel,” Hill says.
Edson was a tougher game. Next weekend the first round ends vs. Athabasca. Slave Lake won both meetings during the season.
Playing in Killam on Feb. 19, the Thunder had two good periods and one bad one. They actually started the first by giving up a shorthanded goal, but got it back on the powerplay a few seconds later, then scored a shortie of their own. Jonas Lillo and Damian Hill each scored twice in the win. Seth Myers and Jill Ernest got the others. Jerzie Green got the start in the Slave Lake goal and stopped 25 shots for the win.
Hosting Camrose on Feb. 20, the Thunder were very stingy, with Grady Beauchamp getting the shutout.
On Saturday the 26th against Edson, the Thunder came up short, losing 4 – 1.
U13
The U13#1 team got started their playoffs on Feb. 20, with a resounding 9 – 3 victory over Barrhead. They got back at it on Saturday, Feb. 26 in Barrhead, with a 10 – 6 win for Slave Lake.
In the first game, Grayson Conrad led the way with five goals. Dayton Seppola had a strong game in goal, stopping 24 shots. Colby Campbell scored a couple; Payton Tompkins and Connor Beauchamp got the others for the Thunder. Conrad again scored five in the second game.
The Thunder will likely face the winner of the Camrose – Vegreville series in the next round.
The U13 #2 team beat Redwater 8 – 2 in their first playoff game on Saturday. On Sunday they beat CNN 11 – 7.
The U13 #3 squad lost 7 – 6 to Athabasca on Saturday in the playoff opener. On Sunday they beat CR2 10 – 5.
U11
The Tier II playoffs started for Slave Lake U11#1 on Feb. 19. They beat Whitecourt 4 – 0, with Wyatt Wentworth getting a hat trick and Gage Romanchuk recording the shutout.
Then on Feb. 20 they beat CNN 5 – 3.
Against Barrhead on Feb. 26, the Thunder romped 6 – 0. They play Edson this coming Saturday.
