OLDS — Several Olds and Innisfail hockey players were on provincial championship-winning teams this year.
Olds' Kendall Hammer played with the U15AA Red Deer Topco Oilsite Products that won the Alberta Elite Female Hockey U15AA provincials during the first week of playoffs. She was named top defenceman of the league. Mark Hammer, also from Olds, is the coah of the team.
Two Olds players played key roles as the U15AAA Red Deer Rebels won the provincials, held March 20-23 in Red Deer.
Leftwingers Noah Ulry and Jaxon Jaffray are both team leaders. Jaffray is the captain and Ulry is an assistant captain.
The Rebels beat the Calgary Northstars 4-1 in the final. Ulry scored what turned out to be the game-winner and was named MVP of that final.
Jaffray scored the first goal in his first shift of that game and the team's first goal in the first game of the tournament despite suffering a shoulder injury in a playoff game just days before the provincials.
Jason Jaffray, a former NHL hockey player and Jaxon’s dad, said scoring that goal gave his son a lot of confidence.
“(He) played through the pain, it was great to see,” Jason said in a text.
The Rebels dominated through most of the tournament.
They beat St. Albert 3-1 in the first game, shut out Grande Prairie 3-0 in the second game, beat the Calgary Bisons 3-1 in the third game but suffered a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Northstars in the fourth game.
During an earlier interview with the Albertan, both boys had encouraged Olds and area residents to come out and support the team. Jaxon was delighted with the size of the crowd that attended.
"I've never seen so many people in the Servus Arena and the atmosphere was amazing," he wrote in a text.
Meanwhile, Olds and Innisfail players Ceder Thorburn and Mabel Weddell were on the U18 AAA Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs team that lost out in the semifinals B playoffs of the U18AAA Alberta Elite Female Hockey League championships.
