Staff
The Northwest Storm Bantam girls’ hockey team certainly made a lasting impression in its first trip to the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association Bantam ‘BB’ provincial championships.
The team—made up of players from Thunder Bay to Kenora, including Jillian Langtry and Danielle Jean of Fort Frances—claimed gold after a 2-1 win in double-overtime over the Nepean Wildcats back on April 19 in Mississauga.
The under-14 squad went undefeated through all six games at the tournament, opening with a 3-1 win over the Clarington Flames followed by a 6-0 shutout of the Brampton Canadettes.
They continued where they left off the next day with a
decisive 7-0 win over the favoured Oakville Hornets before blanking the Georgina Golden Hawks 3-0 to grab top spot in Pool ‘D’ after round-robin play.
The Storm also proved they could win the close games during Sunday’s medal round, edging the Chatham Outlaws 3-2 in the semi-finals before winning the final in exciting fashion over Nepean.
“It was the ultimate team effort,” Storm co-coach Bryan Brown enthused. “The girls gelled together and they had a common focus.
“I’ve never been around a group that has collectively worked that hard,” he remarked.
It was the first time a team from west of Thunder Bay had ever competed at the provincials, and a gold-medal win likely was a surprise to everyone but the players themselves.
“They worked hard and had a goal, and believed they were as good as anybody,” Brown said of the 12-player squad.
“They all cared about each other and if there ever was an odd-man situation on the ice, there was always someone there to back them up,” he noted.
The squad was backed by the solid play of Dryden Eagles’ goalie Breanna Brown, who earned three shutouts over the six-game stretch.
“They seemed to have a chemistry that came together really quickly, and the whole team contributed defensively,” Brown lauded.
The play of Langtry and Jean also keyed the victory with their relentless work ethic and knack for scoring big goals.
“They were part of a forechecking group that drove teams insane,” said Brown. “Both are very good skaters, smart hockey players, and I think they both had three or four goals [each].
“Jillian has strong outside speed and can really act as a pest when she’s in there forechecking,” he said.
“And even though Danielle is small in stature, she’s very strong, and she made life very uncomfortable for goaltenders at the edge of the crease.”
Brown said the idea for a regional team was spearheaded two years ago and had plenty of obstacles to overcome—but was well worth the trouble in the end.
“It’s always been Dryden versus the Fort and Fort versus Kenora in girls’ hockey and at the high school level, and they are always competing against each other,” he explained.
“About two years ago, myself and Bill Reid started talking about ‘if ever these girls could play together, what would be the level they could play at?’
“There was a lot of paperwork to do to get things going, and I’m glad the girls didn’t have to go through that,” Brown added. “But when you play against each other as adversaries in girls’ hockey or in high school, and then come together and gel that quickly, it’s great to see.”
Brown said the plan is to keep a good thing going now as the players move up to the Midget level.
“It’s certainly our intention to move these girls into Midget and continue the program,” he stressed. “Our hope is to expand the amount of games they play, maybe pick up some tournaments in the U.S. or in Western Canada, because these are elite-level players who just have never had the opportunity to work together and play together.
“I think when they run into each other at the rinks in the future, there will be some friendships there, but I’m sure they’ll play hard against each other on the ice,” he laughed.
