The Quesnel Sky-Hi Scaffolding Atom Selects hockey team won gold at a tournament in Chilliwack Jan. 31-Feb.2.
The Atoms started out the tournament with a bang on Friday, blowing out a team from North Vancouver 8-3, letting other teams know they showed up to play. Colton Campbell had a monster game with four goals and one assist, while Marek Lowndes added two goals and an assist to the scoresheet.
Saturday saw the Atoms take on the hometown Chilliwack team in an early-morning game. The kids from Quesnel were not very gracious guests, as they barely let the hometown team touch the puck, trouncing them by a score of 10-3. Weston Murray had an incredible showing with a hat trick and three assists.
The only loss for Quesnel would come on Saturday afternoon, as they played a real nail-biter of a game against a team from Kamloops who would edge them out 2-1.
As the sun rose on Sunday morning, the Quesnel Atoms were chomping at the bit to get on the ice and get back on track. Sure enough, they got back on the horse and continued their winning ways, beating a team from 100 Mile House 3-1 and earning a spot in the finals.
The gold-medal game on Sunday afternoon pitted Quesnel against the only team in the tournament who had bested them, Kamloops.
This time, the hard work and focus of the Quesnel squad would be too much for the Kamloops team, as they outplayed their tournament rivals at every step on their way to a 5-3 win. Campbell had another big game, scoring two, while Reid Powell would tally one goal and an assist in the winning effort.
This was the first tournament win for the Atoms this season, and team manager Brian Inwood believes the hard work and practice the team is putting in will lead to more success.
“The team has really come together,” he said. “Their passing in this tournament was great. They are really working with what they are learning in practice and putting it together during games.”
Up next for the Quesnel Sky-Hi Scaffolding Atoms Selects team will be a home tournament Feb. 7-9 where they will look to build on their success.
READ MORE: Quesnel Atom Selects were ‘sky-hi’ after winning Fiesta Cup
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