At the recent Atom Clippers home tournament, held November 23–24 in Niverville, two local teams skated their way to gold medals. The Atom A and Atom C White squads both came up big in front of their home crowd.
In the Atom A final, the Clippers found themselves town 2–0 early in the first period against the undefeated 10A1 KW Canucks from Winnipeg. The comeback was something no player, parent, or coach will soon forget.
“Niverville came back as a united team to win the gold medal game 4–3,” says coach Travis Mason. “Every shift, each player did their job, fighting hard for each other right until the very end.”
Among the major highlights, he says, was a cross-crease glove save from goaltender Zaiden McDonald-Horvath that produced gasps of amazement from the crowd.
“Niko Lemoine had his best game of the tournament, leading the team with a goal and two assists,” Mason adds. “Ethan King and Adrien Desmarais led by example, elevating their games to a new level by shutting down the Canucks’ leading scorer.”
He says the biggest highlight of the game came in the third period, when Luca “The Bazooka” Wotherspoon scored the game-winning goal for the Clippers with a huge slapper from the point.
“It was great to see the team bond over the weekend, playing for each other and fighting together through close games in the round robin,” Mason says. “Their will and determination was something each player on this team should be proud of. It’s always a great feeling when you see the way the team carries themselves around the arena with a lot of energy and smiles.”
The other tournament-winning team, the Atom C White Clippers, put on a clinic.
“We entered our home tournament with an amazing 6–0–0 record,” says Atom C White team manager Noelle Strain. “We played three [round robin] games, winning all three, 8–0, 11–0, and 5–0, making it to the finals.”
In the final, the team beat the Brandon Orange Crush 3–1 in a hard-fought battle to win gold. They were coached by Kevin Boone, Justin Reimer, Tom Sawatzky, and Rob Brandt.
Two other Atom teams from Niverville participated in the tournament—Atom B and Atom C Blue.
The Atom B team also made it to the gold medal final, although they came up just a little bit short when the buzzer sounded. The final score was 3–1, favouring their opponents from Portage la Prairie.
“It was a hard-fought game by the Clippers, who were down 1–0 with only four minutes to go,” says head coach Ryan Brunel. “They made it to the championship game with big wins over St Adolphe 9–0 and Gimli 7–1.”
The Atom C Blue team came up short as well, losing all three of their round robin games despite playing hard.
“Our team had a fun weekend anyway and enjoyed every minute of the hockey experience and learning how to mesh well with our team members,” says team manager Alicia Parsons. “All members of the team played exceptionally well.”
Atom C Blue head coach Will Cuccaro agrees that the team is continuing to grow with every match.
“Despite what the scoreboard said, the Atom C Blue team became a very big thorn in the sides of their opponents, pushing them for [the full] 36 minutes of every game,” says Cuccaro. “Their no-quit attitude, constant encouragement of each other, and commitment to a team-first approach is truly something to be appreciated and admired!”
Parsons adds that the Atom C Blue team has two upcoming tournaments this winter, a December Christmas Challenge in Fort Richmond and an away tournament in Portage la Prairie in January.
In late October, a couple of these same teams also enjoyed great success at the annual Rob/West Tournament in Winnipeg. The Atom As came out on top in their division, and the Atom Bs finished in second place.
Mason says that these early success build confidence in the teams as they move forward.
“The [Atom A] team is looking forward to moving on to their next goal of the season as they get back to league play with their biggest challenges coming up in December,” Mason says.
Brunel, who coached Atom B, says that the second-place finish at the Rob/West tournament mirrored their later second-place finish in the Niverville tournament. At Rob/West, they fell short 2–0 against Stonewall in the final.
“But with two silver medals in two tournaments so far this year,” Brunel points out, “they are determined to taste gold in their next one.”
The Clippers Executive also pass along a message of thanks on behalf of the club for all the local businesses and volunteers who helped to make their home tournament such a big success.
