PLAMONDON - The Plamondon Cougars beat their Boyle rivals in the first game of the Northeastern Alberta Hockey League U-15 Tier 4 division on October 7 of last year. And last week, 31 games later — in the final game of the league's championships, the Cougars beat the Boyle Blazers again to win the division title.
The March 12 game between the two teams saw Plamondon's Andrew Haxby open the scoring two minutes in. The team's scoring-leader tallied 60 goals in 30 games over the season, including three more in the back-and-forth championship tilt that saw the teams tied at two after the first period, tied at three after the second and tied at five after the third.
Three minutes into the 10-minute overtime frame, Haxby closed the scoring circle, notching the game-winning sixth goal — his fourth of the night — and securing the Cougars the division title and a spot in the U15 Tier 1 — No Body Contact — provincial championships.
Provincials weekend
The Plamondon Cougars were already playing in the weekend Provincials — taking place from March 23-26 as the host team, but their league title brings them in as the representing champions as well. Because the host team is also the division champ, the second place team in the division — Boyle — also earns a provincial spot.
While the rivalry will continue, the two teams are in different pools of the round-robin playdowns and will only play each other if they both make it to the semi-final or final rounds.
Lac La Biche and Plamondon
Provincial hockey action starts at the Plamondon Arena on Thursday afternoon. The Plamondon ice will see 15 championship games over the weekend. Provincial action is also taking place at the Bold Center in Lac La Biche where the Lac La Biche U-13 Clippers are hosting the Tier 3 Alberta provincials at the same time. The host-team Clippers take on Athabasca to kick-off the 15-game championships at the Bold Center on Thursday at 6 pm.
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