The Estevan Strippers hockey program sent a pair of teams to compete at a tournament in Grand Forks, N.D., earlier this month. The 50-and-over team started out with a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Crippled Crows. Kirk Haines and Jim Larter scored for the Strippers. In their second game, the Strippers scored twice late in the game to secure a 7-5 victory over the Grand Forks Roadrunners. Lyle Odgers led the way with a hat trick and Haines potted a pair. Rob Peloquin and Rick Walliser also scored. The Strippers scored four times in the first period of their third game, and routed Devils Lake by an 8-2 score. Sean Garagan had the hat trick and Odgers had a pair. Dave Kosior, Larry
Doan, and Peloquin also scored. The Strippers advanced to the final against the Portage la Prairie Plainsmen, and won 4-3. Odgers’ second of the game with nine seconds to play was the winning goal. Kosior and Haines scored singles while Jeff Anson had a very strong game in net. The over-40 team went 3-0 in the round-robin, starting with a 10-0 rout of the St. Cloud Express. Matt Garagan, Dan McLelland and Jeff Clausen each netted a pair, while Garett Fleck, Gord Steeves, Chuck Haines and Nick Mayer had the other goals. In their second game against the Winnipeg Red Coats, the Strippers won 3-0, with Steeves, Mayer and
Karl McKenzie scoring. Jody Wolashin was in goal for both shutouts. The over-40 Strippers scored four times in each of the first and second periods to beat the Canadian Brew 9-1 in their third game. McLelland led the way with a hat trick while Garagan netted a pair. Singles were scored by Mayer, Clausen, Craig Gusikoski and Dave Odgers. In the A final, the Strippers dropped a 7-5 decision to the Winnipeg Sofa Kings. The Strippers goals were courtesy of Gusikoski, Clausen, McLelland, Odgers, and Fleck. The next action for the Strippers is their 35th Annual Molson’s Spring Bust Tournament scheduled for April 5-9 at Estevan’s three arenas. Forty teams are slated to compete this year.
