Carter Savoie’s penalty shot in overtime lifted the St. Albert Sabres to a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat King in Sunday’s final at the 56th annual Quebec Peewee International Hockey Tournament.
Brandon was called for covering the puck in the crease 24 seconds into OT and Savoie made no mistake lighting the lamp for the peewee AA team at Quebec Pepsi Coliseum.
Blake Lyda was in net as the Sabres finished the tournament at 4-1.
The Sabres, as listed on the team’s website, are Evan Arnold, Ethan Barwick, Michael Benning, Hayden Carlson, Jackson Ganton, Tyson Greenway, Mathieu Gautier, Langley Kruggel, Marc Lajoie, Carter MacDonald, Ethan McKinley, Ethan Pool, Jace Simington-Lesanko, Austin Spiridakis, Carter Stock, Lyda, Savoie and head coach Brian Benning.
In Saturday’s semifinal, Barwick backstopped the Sabres to the 3-0 win over the Halifax Mooseheads. McKinley scored once and assisted on goals by Gautier and Carlson. Kruggel also had a pair of assists.
The Sabres opened the tournament with a 5-4 shootout loss to LSA Select Suisse Romande that went 11 rounds. The next game was a 4-2 decision over the Colorado Avalanche, followed by a 3-1 win over SSF-Quebec Cyclone.
The Sabres also played two exhibitions and defeated Yamaska-Missisqui Vics and San Jose Jr. Sharks.
The Sabres finished league play at 21-0-1 and after two playoff wins will play for the blue division finals Friday.
The team’s website shows an overall record of 41-2-1, with 327 goals scored and 101 against.
The Sabres are also the Zone 3 champions and will play in the peewee AA major provincials, March 19 to 22 in Olds.
Paul Kane High School teacher Lori Olson-Johns was named to the second all-star team as third at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw.
The all-star teams were decided based on the players’ shooting percentages in the round robin.
Olson-Johns was graded at 82 per cent on the Alberta rink skipped by Val Sweeting
Kaitlyn Lawes of the Manitoba rink skipped by Jennifer Jones was the first team all-star third at 84 per cent.
Olson-Johns was competing at her third Scotties but first with the Saville Centre foursome of Sweeting, second Dana Ferguson and lead Rachelle Brown. She played second for Cheryl Bernard of Calgary the last three seasons before joining the Sweeting lineup in November.
In the round robin, Alberta finished second at 9-2 and Manitoba placed first at 10-1. Manitoba doubled Alberta 10-5 in the last game before the playoffs and in the Page 1-2 game it was 8-6 for Manitoba over Alberta.
Sweeting and company rebounded from their third loss in a row after a 9-0 start to edge Stefanie Lawton of Saskatchewan 7-6 in the semifinal.
Sunday’s final against Jones was decided on the last shot in the 10th end, an open draw to the 12-foot by the 2014 Olympic gold medallist for her fifth Scotties crown. It also marked second year in a row Sweeting lost the final.
The coach of the Sweeting rink was Garry Coderre of St. Albert.
The St. Albert Skyhawks can clinch first place in metro Edmonton division one women’s basketball with a victory tonight against the Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds.
Tip-off is 6:30 p.m. at Ross Sheppard High School.
The Skyhawks and Spruce Grove Panthers are tied for top spot at 11-1 but the St. Albert Catholic High School team is seeded first after beating the defending division one champions last week in Spruce Grove.
In the 4A rankings, the Panthers are No. 1 and the Skyhawks are No. 2
The Thunderbirds are 3-8 in division one and their last game against the Skyhawks ended in an 84-38 drubbing at the recent Titans Tri-Prov tournament.
The division one playoffs start Monday and the final is March 7 at 5 p.m. at Jasper Place High School, the venue for the March 19 to 21 4A provincials.
Last year at provincials, the Skyhawks beat the Panthers in the bronze-medal game.
The Skyhawks are 27-3 overall this season after toppling the Harry Ainlay Titans 67-47 Monday in league play at the SkyDome.
Brielle Wise led all scorers with 21 points against the Titans (5-7).
Jessa Ivicak drained 16 points and Marinya Marcichiw added 10 in the team’s first game since losing Saturday’s final of the Panther Classic 60-49 to the Panthers in Spruce Grove.
Ivicak tossed in 17 points and Riki Steward chipped in with eight in the team’s fifth final in six tournaments this season. The Skyhawks are 16-2 in tournament action as winners of four competitions. They also finished third at the Chinook Invitational in Lethbridge.
The Skyhawks thumped the E.P. Scarlett Lancers of Calgary, a 4A honourable mention, 72-45 in the tournament opener. Ivicak scored 14 points, followed by Marcichiw with 12 and Wise with 11.
In the semifinal, Jamie Bain lit up the No. 3-ranked 4A Cardston Cougars for six three-pointers and Marcichiw tacked up a team-high 21 points in the 71-64 win. Sam Dargis also posted nine points.
The Panthers are 25-2 overall after Monday’s 65-49 win over the No. 7-ranked 4A Paul Kane Blues (8-3) in St. Albert.
