The Cold Lake Bantam Freeze captured the provincial championship after squeaking past a tough Stony Plain squad 4-2 in the finals.
“Our team peaked at the right time and played our best hockey of the year,” said head coach Bob Fraser. “We played up to our potential and really came together as a team.
It wasn't an easy path for the local bantam squad as they needed overtime to get past Edmonton in the semi-finals and had to battle back from a 2-0 deficit in the championship game.
The Freeze played a really tough, back and forth game against Edmonton and were tied 4-4 after three periods. They went into overtime with their season on the line and pulled out the 5-4 victory.
“It was a beautiful pass from Jaydon Frey to Zac Nedlec on the winning goal,” said Fraser. “It was a very intense game and there were a ton of nerves on the bench. I got them calmed down and we prevailed.”
Cold Lake qualified for Sunday's semi-final match after going 3-1 in round robin play, which consisted of victories over Coaldale, Chestermere and Bow Valley and a loss to Devon.
“The round robin games were quite rough, penalty filled games, but they were really exciting,” said Fraser. “I saw a lot of development in the kids from their hockey talents and how they developed as young men throughout the year.”
With the victory the Freeze capped off a great season and accomplished a goal they had set for themselves right from day one.
“At the original parent meeting at the beginning of the year I said that we had the potential to win provincials. It was the main goal,” said Fraser. “In my hockey career I had two provincial silvers and I wanted the gold. I finally got my gold.”
