Richard Froese
South Peace News
The High Prairie Royals are off to the provincial U-15 Tier 3 hockey championships March 24-27 in Provost.
The Royals were crowned the All-Peace Hockey League champions March 12 when they defeated La Glace 7-1 in High Prairie.
As a result, the team won not only the league but the right to advance to provincials.
High Prairie swept the best-of-three final series after the Royals edged La Glace 6-5 in Hythe on March 10.
Head coach Gerry Amyotte and his coaching staff are proud of the players.
“It took every player on the team to get to where we are today, winning our league banner and able to represent our zone and community at the provincials,” adds assistant coach Jeff Copeland, speaking for the coaches.
Ryker Amyotte, Taylor Copeland and Tristen Grant each scored a pair of goals for the Royals in the second game to clinch the title.
Kahlen Letendre also scored for the Royals, who were tied 1-1 after the first period and led 5-1 after two.
High Prairie goaltender Kale Cuthbert stopped 44 shots and was a huge reason the Royals won the game.
La Glace opened the scoring before High Prairie responded and scored seven unanswered goals.
Grant scored the game-winning goal in the first game.
Copeland led the way with two goals for High Prairie, who led 2-1 after the first period but trailed 4-3 after two periods.
Tyrus Bone, Isaiah Halcrow, and Amyotte also scored for the Royals.
Ryder Halcrow was in net for High Prairie and turned aside 43 of 48 shots.
High Prairie has persevered during the season.
“The team battled through adversity all season and with an oversized roster, we had to have players sit out each game,” Copeland says.
“But the team battled through it and everyone worked hard together, no matter if they were in the stands or on the ice and encouraged one another shift in and shift out.”
At the provincials, High Prairie is scheduled to open play March 24 against host Provost at 7:45 p.m. Next, the Royals face Edmonton on March 25 at 4:30 p.m. and Northern Alberta Interlock on March 26 at 1:15 p.m.
Top two teams from each pool qualify for the semifinals on March 27 starting at 8 a.m. with the final scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
Spectators can watch the games live on Livebarn. Viewers have to subscribe online by going to HTTPS://livebarn .com/en/register and use the promo code 0d5c-f1d0.