The atom AA provincials brought out the very best in the St. Albert Lightning.
“The kids worked real hard and stayed focused and always believed in themselves,” said Geoff Giacobbo, head coach of the championship-winning Lightning. “I’m really proud of the kids. To have a group of nine- and 10-year-olds buy in and commit to a game plan and work ethic as hard as they did was really rewarding.”
The Lightning are netminders Mitch Reidy and Dallas Branch, defencemen Jayden Platz, Matt Offenberger, Dylan Wells, Austin Sorenson and Zach Carlson and forwards Martin Rudolf, Rhys Mazur, Nick Leyer, Jacob Cebryk, Cole Kanuga, Zach Giacobbo, Scott Lancaster, Jake Aston and Cole Gupta.
“I hope they realize that it is a big deal to win a provincial championship,” Giacobbo said. “To win it we had to beat Spruce Grove in zone 3 and Spruce Grove is a very good team. At provincials it’s five games over three days so it’s a grind.”
In Sunday’s final the Lightning blanked the Lethbridge Senators 4-0 in Okotoks. Gupta, Platz, Cebryk and Aston scored and Reidy recorded the shutout.
“We talked about making sure we had a good start and take their will away early. We beat them 6-1 in the round robin so we felt that if we could get that good start, our belief would continue to grow and theirs would dissipate a little and we were able to do that. We had a really good five shifts and just kind of carried the momentum from there,” Giacobbo said.
In the semifinal, Branch was solid between the pipes in the 3-2 decision against the Okotoks Oilers. Platz, Mazur and Gupta provided the offence.
In the round robin the Lightning blasted the Grande Prairie Vipers 7-0, Sherwood Park Barons 6-0 and the Senators to finish first in pool B.
“Provincials was a real good experience for the players,” Giacobbo said. “It’s also the first time in their lives that they were playing for a provincial championship.”
In league play the Lightning went 18-2-2 and in the playoffs edged the St. Albert Barons 2-1 in Thursday’s final.
“We’re just a well rounded team, from the goalies out. Both goalies are strong and we’ve got five defencemen that can skate and nine forwards that can skate,” Giacobbo said. “I tell people all the time that the strength of our team is that we’re just hard to play against. There is no easy shifts against us, just because of how hard we work and how well we skate.”
The coaching staff includes Rob Anstruther, Jeff Leyer, Josh Maeda, Gary Offenberger and Greg Rudolf. Darren Mazur is the manager.
“To coach at this level is very rewarding. It’s a lot of fun,” said Giacobbo, program co-ordinator for the Greater St. Albert Sports Academy and assistant coach of the midget AAA Raiders. “The message that we try and give the players as coaches every day is that if they believe in themselves they can be successful, whether it’s on the ice or off the ice.”
