The Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Hounds U13 tier two team are provincial champions. (Submitted Photo)

By Jesse Gill

Medicine Hat Minor Hockey team bring home provincial banner

Mar 25, 2024 | 5:20 PM

It was a banner winner weekend for the U13 Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Hounds at provincials this weekend in Slave Lake.

The Hounds won their tier two title after defeating the host Slave Lake team in the final 7-3.

Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Hounds U13 tier two team celebrates their provincial title. (Submitted)

The Hounds had lost the Central Alberta Hockey League tier two championship to Airdrie earlier this month, with each still claiming the leagues spots to provincials.

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Head Coach Kevin Kurtz said the coaching staff knew early in the season they had a provincial banner caliber team and was happy to see the kids excitement.

“They were elated,” Kurtz said.

“I think a lot of them didn’t quite realize how special it was to make a provincial championship weekend. Even just to be there and how hard it is to get there. A lot of things have to go right for you,” he added.

“They were amped up. We had some woes in the round robin and they bounced back just like they did all year long and last game was a lot of nervous energy in the room. We told them to harness that energy and turn it into something positive and they did.”

At the start of the season the coaches identified they had a special group of kids, according to Kurtz.

“We sat them actually down in October and we told them we thought they had a good chance to make a run at provincials and asked them to buy into a process and believe in themselves and continue to build on that all the way through the season,” Kurtz said.

“We were there to win and we knew we could win and we knew we could finish the deal off for the association and the City of Medicine Hat,” he added.

“We are pretty happy we brought the banner home.”

Another Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Association team came close to winning a provincial banner this past weekend.

The U13 tier one Hounds lost to Red Deer 4-2 in their provincial championship game in Mannville.

The Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Wildats U13 Female tier two team had the fifth best record during their provincial tournament in Consort.

The South East Athletic Club Tigers U17 AAA team came up one win short in their run to provincials this past weekend.

The Tigers dropped the last two games of their best of three second round playoff series to the Airdrie Avalanche after winning the first game in double overtime.