Staff
The rest of the tournament field caught a “Chill” it couldn’t shake.
Winnipeg’s St. Vital Chill was the class of the five-team field at the Emo-Devlin-Barwick Minor Hockey Association’s Novice girls’ tournament over the weekend, securing the tourney title by overpowering the Fort Frances Bruins 8-1 in the gold-medal final Sunday at the Emo-La Vallee Arena.
The Chill, tied for first place in its league, won all five of its games by a combined score of 32-1 and featured a lineup of mostly second-year Novices compared to the more mixed first- and second-year lineups of the other teams on hand.
St. Vital carried the play early in the first period but also surrendered two clear breakaways to Addison Chown–both turned aside by goalie Adriana Almeida.
It took just over nine minutes for the Chill to finally break through, with Jade Pelland scoring her first of four goals on the day from the top of the right circle.
Just 21 seconds later, bad luck tripped up the Bruins as Kennedy Carriere’s point shot accidentally was redirected by Emma Wilson in an admirable attempt to block it, which sent the puck past Bruins’ goalie Shayna Shute.
The second period saw another pair of quick strikes by the Chill.
Pelland got another deflected goal at 7:26. Then just 27 seconds later, Isabella Carriere won a draw right to Leah Derkatch, whose quick shot eluded Shute stick-side for a 4-0 lead.
After being denied on two previous breakaways, Marlee Bliss made good on her third in-alone opportunity while shorthanded with just over four minutes left in the frame to put the Bruins on the board.
The tally was no small achievement as it was the first and only goal to get past Almeida all tournament (according to some of the Chill parents on hand, it was only one she has allowed all season).
The good feeling for the Bruins only lasted just over two minutes, though, as Pelland roared down the right wing and hammered a shot to the top shelf.
Natasha Giesbrecht, Pelland, and Carriere rounded out the scoring in the third.
The Bruins opened play with a 6-1 win over the Kenora Purple Punishers.
Bliss had four goals in that one while Chown added the other two.
The two matched those goal outputs in a 7-2 win over the Fort Frances Heat, with Ella Evans chipping in with a single.
Makayla Gibbs and Davilyn Miller replied for the Heat.
Bliss had a natural hat trick, and Shute the shutout, in a 4-0 whitewashing of the Emo Express.
Wilson netted the other goal for the Bruins, who finished round-robin play with a 5-0 loss to St. Vital.
As for the Heat, goalie Ashlee Homer backstopped the locals to a 5-0 win over Kenora to pocket third place.
Makayla Gibbs scored two almost carbon-copy goals in the first period before Courtney Easton made it 3-0 just 16 seconds into the third when she banked the puck in off a skate in front and past Kenora goalie Tyah McDougall.
Hannah Pope poked home a rebound later in the period.
Then with less than five minutes to go, Quinn Miller blocked out two Kenora defenders as big sister, Davilyn, got a shot off from the right-wing boards, then raced in for one rebound chance and then a second one that she slid past McDougall.
The Heat got cooking in its first game with a 3-0 shutout of Emo.
Davilyn Miller lit the lamp twice while Pope added a single, with Homer earning the shutout.
Following the loss to the Bruins, the Heat tied Kenora 2-2 as Davilyn Miller had both markers.
The Heat then dropped a 4-0 decision to St. Vital.
When it came to the host Express, the wins and goals were hard to come by as they went 0-3-1 while being outscored 13-0.
Emo’s other loss was by a 6-0 count to the Chill but the Express were able to hold Kenora to a scoreless draw.
