Red Deer, Alta - With 2 exciting events in the past two weeks, the Hockey Alberta Inline season concluded this past weekend after the Team Alberta Program wrapped up it final 2 events. The Hockey Alberta Inline AGM will take place October 4th 2009 in Red Deer to plan for an exciting 2010 Season.
Team Under Armour Captures Canada West Cup
With this being the fourth installment of the Canada West Cup, Alberta athletes were ready and geared up to go at their first practices Thursday July 23rd when the Canada West Cup Kicked off at Millennium place in Sherwood Park. The Canada West Cup is a portion of Hockey Alberta Inline’s Team Alberta Program and featured the best Inline player in birth years 1993, 1994 and 1995 in Western Canada. Alberta Players are divided into 3 teams which match up against each other and teams from other western provinces. The 2009 Canada West Cup played host to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Team Under Armour, Team Mission, and Team Projoy. After and exciting and tightly contested round robin, the playoffs and final matches saw some tight games and an exciting overtime final. At the end of the event, Team Under Armour emerged with the cup. While they took home the top prize they’re tournament was not struggle free, as they battled all the way back from 4th place in the 5 team event to win it. You can learn more about the Canada West Cup by visiting the Team Alberta website and visiting the Canada West Cup Section, or visit Sherwood Park/Strathcona County News.
Team Alberta Inline 1991 and 1992 Come Home Heavy with Medals
Team Alberta Inline 1991 and 1992 both returned to Alberta from State Wars in Cincinnati, Ohio a little heavier this week as the 1992 took home the bronze in the AAA division and the 1991’s earned a AA Silver. The 1992 team came out strong and impressed the primarily American crowds with a 4-0 record and first place seed out of the round robin. 2009 marks the first year Canadian teams have participated in the event. That fact combined with a strong round robin showing made Team Alberta the talk of the tournament early on. Coming out of the round robin however Alberta Faced a tough team from Missouri and look a heartbreaker in overtime. Team Alberta regrouped though and put on a tremendous effort to ensure they didn’t come home empty handed and defeated Pennsylvania to take the bronze. Missouri went on to defeat Team BC in the Gold Medal Game. Thanks to efforts by both teams the 1992 AAA division saw Canadians taking 2 of the 3 medal spots, an impressive feat considering their first year status and the fact they were the only Canadian teams in the 11 team division.
Team Alberta 1991 got off to a slower start but came on strong as the tournament progressed. A key 2 to 0 victory versus Pennsylvania in their final round robin game put them into the AA playoffs. Team Alberta 1991 got out to an early lead and then shut the door holding on for the win with Team Alberta 1992 providing enough support from the crowd that the Alberta boys on the floor received a home crowd advantage even 2,700km from Wild Rose country. The 1991’s continued strong shutting down Colorado’s top offensive threat and moving on to the gold medal game against North Carolina. In the Gold Medal game the team proved you can never count Alberta out and stormed back into the game, coming back from a 2 goal deficit with only 30 seconds remaining in the game and forcing overtime. Unfortunately the last push just wasn’t enough and North Carolina squeezed out the overtime winner.
Despite not enjoying their overtime experiences, both Team Alberta 1991 and 1992 represented their home province proudly and were able to accomplish the feat of medaling in their first ever trip to State Wars. Hockey Alberta Inline is very proud of the way all athletes and staff represented their province at the event and hopes to see everyone eligible coming back next year. With the addition of the Canada West Cup players coming through the system, Alberta is sure to put a strong team forward next year. More information about Team Alberta Inline can be found on the Team Alberta Website.
|