A complete team effort propelled the Estevan Power Tech midget AA Panthers to a Tier 1-A championship at the Wickenheiser Female World Hockey Festival in Calgary on the weekend.
“Our girls played well,” said Panthers coach Trevor Morrison. “We didn’t quit. It was 15-minute stop-time periods and you don’t go in, so that’s tough. We didn’t get a rest, but we rolled our three lines and our two (defence) pairings and we just kept the pressure on.”
The Panthers began the seventh annual Wickfest, which is run by four-time Olympic gold medallist Hayley Wickenheiser and attracts over 2,500 female players from around the world to Calgary’s Winsport’s Canada Olympic Park each year, with a 9-0 romp over Ontario’s St. Thomas Panthers on Friday afternoon. Estevan knocked off the Saskatoon Comet Predators 7-1 a few hours later before tallying a 7-0 win over the Bridge City club in a rematch the next afternoon.
The 3-0 record set the Panthers up for a Wickfest championship match against the also-undefeated Edmonton EGHA Capitals on Sunday afternoon. After both teams failed to find the back of the net through the first two periods, Panthers forward Kenzie Balon beat Capitals goalie Manpriya Jassal two minutes into the third stanza.
Kelsey Pastachak made it 2-0 less than a minute later with Ashton Magotiaux notching the insurance marker while shorthanded at the 8:22 mark. Jasynn Monteyne finished off the scoring with seven seconds remaining in the game to make the final a 4-0 Panthers victory. Morgan Fayle recorded the shutout in net.
Morrison said attending Wickfest gave the girls a chance to have a bit of a holiday, bond together and gain some experience at a major tournament. He said they seized the opportunity and the effort they displayed each game bodes well for their return to South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League action this weekend.
“All our three lines were pretty evenly balanced and the work ethic that we put in to achieve our final goal I think is only going to take us to the next level in our league,” he said. “We play Notre Dame in Estevan this Friday and play them again Saturday in Carlyle and I just want to see if we keep that same compete level. If we do we’re going to be a force to reckon with.”
