Under-18 Thunder win ‘A’ final of tournament

By Rob Vogt – Local Press Writer
With the just eight skaters and smarting from a Friday night loss to Brooks, the Claresholm Under-18 Thunder hockey team exacted their revenge on the Bulldogs by beating them in the “A” final of a tournament in Blackfalds.
The tournament opened on Friday night, Jan. 27 with Brooks handing Claresholm a 9-8 loss.
Brooks led 3-1 after the first period and 7-3 after two periods, before Claresholm mounted a furious comeback in the third period with five goals, but fell just a goal short.
Scoring for the Thunder were Roan Crowe, unassisted; Travis Hinkle, unassisted; Crowe, assisted by Cheyenne Symens and Cohen Cutler; Hinkle, unassisted; Hinkle, assisted by Reid Schooley and Ethan McGarry; Crowe, assisted by Symens and Cutler; Clayton Van Langen, assisted by McGarry and Symens; and Crowe unassisted.
The Thunder had just nine skaters for the game.
The Thunder were back on the ice Saturday morning, Jan. 28, where they defeated Whitecourt by a score of 9-4.
The teams were tied 2-2 after 20 minutes, but Claresholm exploded with five goals in the second period and two more in the third to cruise to victory.
Scoring for the Thunder were Crowe, assisted by Hinkle; Hinkle, assisted by Vann Woodman and Cheyenne Symens; Hinkle, assisted by Cutler; Woodman, assisted by Cutler and Schooley; Crowe, unassisted; Schooley, assisted by Colby Symens and McGarry; Crowe, unassisted; Hinkle, assisted by Crowe; and Crowe, assisted by Hinkle and Van Langen.
The Thunder had 10 skaters, and goaltender Marshall Williams earned the win in net.
Claresholm closed out Saturday with an 11-6 win over Blackfalds, taking control early with five goals in the first period, one in the second, and five more in the third period.
Scoring for the Thunder were Crowe, assisted by Woodman; Crowe, assisted by Hinkle; Hinkle, assisted by Crowe; Hinkle assisted by Crowe; Hinkle, unassisted; Hinkle, assisted by Crowe and Woodman; Hinkle, assisted by Cutler and Woodman; Woodman, unassisted; Cutler, assisted by Cheyenne Symens and Van Langen; Crowe, unassisted; and Crowe, assisted by Woodman.
Goaltender Zackery Hann earned the win in net.
Those results put Claresholm in the final on Sunday, Jan. 29, where awaiting them were the Brooks Bulldogs who had handed the Thunder their only loss.
Claresholm came out strong as Crowe set up Hinkle to make the score 1-0.
Brooks would tie the game, but Hinkle scored what turned out to be the game winner, assisted by Crowe and Colby Symens, to give the Thunder the 2-1 lead after one period.
From there, Williams shut the door on the Bulldog scorers and Claresholm poured in four goals in the second period and one more in the third for the 7-1 win and the “A” championship.
The rest of the Thunder scoring was by Crowe, assisted by Hinkle; Colby Symens, assisted by Cutler and Crowe; Crowe, assisted by Cutler; Crowe, assisted by Woodman and Van Langen; and Hinkle, assisted by Van Langen and Crowe.