Susan Thompson
South Peace News
The Peace region is now home to a gold medal hockey team.
The Peace Country Canadians won women’s hockey gold in their final game against EC Icemice Telfs – Tiroler Madln [IMT] at the 2020 Winter World Masters Games after winning a decisive victory of 14-0 over Red Angels Innsbruck in the semi-finals.
“The win was great!” says Becky Zimmer- man. “We won gold against Telfs Ice Mice 5-2. All of our games prior to this we won with a five- to 15-goal lead. When we played these guys the first time we won 7-0, so to meet them for gold game was great!”
The Ice Mice didn’t make it easy, taking the lead in first period with two goals to the Canadians’ one.
“Kinda caught us off guard, and made us work for the medal. Made the win feel much more rewarding,” Zimmerman says.
IMT took the silver medal, while the Ice Karoos took bronze after defeating the Red Angels.
Peace Country Canadians team members include Zimmerman, Dawn Rain, Dawn Bird, Nicole Nobert, Becky Tetreault, Jodie Atkinson, Ann Sawyer, Melissa Sorensen, Cindy Potter, Michelle LeMoignan, Stacy Cosgrove, and Laurie Webb.
Webb scored the final winning goal in the gold medal game. Zimmer- man and Cosgrove scored two goals each in the final game.
Zimmerman dominated the tournament overall in points, with 7-11-18 points, while Cosgrove scored the most goals with nine, plus six assists.
“The Peace Country Canadians clearly have a strong fan base back home as a large group of friends and family made the huge trip over here to show their support!” says a news release by the official Games website.
“It was certainly a family affair as the Canadian crowd cheered on their team battling it out on the ice.”
The Winter World Masters Games take place every four years for athletes 30 years or older. More than 3,100 participants from 56 nations participated in this years games, which ran until Jan. 19, 2020, in Innsbruck, Austria.
The arena in Innsbruck, Austria were hockey was played. 
Members of Team Canada prepare for a game. Photos are courtesy of Winter World Masters Games; team photo is also courtesy of Shootandstyle.