Midget A hockey provincials in Strathmore in 2019

By Brady Grove, Times Reporter

The Strathmore Minor Hockey Association (SMHA) will host the 2019 midget A provincials March 21-24.
The SMHA is looking forward to welcoming the high-end hockey and noted the potential benefits to the town.
“It’s good for our town. Lots of families come from all over Alberta,” said SMHA tournament committee co-chair Kristen Langen-Bouche. “It’s busy for hotels, it’s busy for restaurants and busy for the rink obviously.”
According to Langen-Bouche, the association submitted their bid to host and Hockey Alberta picked Strathmore out of several potential communities. Strathmore had previously hosted provincials in 2016. Midget players range in age from 15 to 17.
A benefit of hosting the tournament is automatic placement into provincials for the local tournament. This means the midget A Storm team does not have to qualify for provincials by winning its league banner or divisional zone. Despite the automatic qualification, midget A Storm head coach Ron West doesn’t want his team to quit trying or playing hard.
“We still continue with our other goals. One (is) making playoffs in the CAHL (Central Alberta Hockey League),” said West. “Two, trying to win the championship in CAHL and then continue to build and get stronger for provincials.”
West said as provincials draw closer, the team will shift their practice from a skill development mentality to focus in their systems and structure. Provincials is like a marathon in the sense teams play multiple games over a three-day span. West isn’t concerned about the endurance drain on his team because they have proven they can handle it.
“Between league and the Calgary (tournament), we just played eight games in eight days, so I think we’ll be fine,” he said.
West views the Storm as a skill/speed team and acknowledged heavier hitting teams could be a challenge in the high-level provincial tournament. Veteran Storm centre 17-year-old Ryan Orford echoed his coach’s sentiment and said he is really excited to play in the tournament next year.
“These are obviously the best of the best in their respective division,” said Orford. “It doesn’t really change a whole lot (approach to the season). Our goal was always to go to provincials whether it was hosting or making it through divisionals.”
The Storm will have just over three months to prepare for provincials. Prior to the Christmas break, the club sat in third place in the CAHL tier 1 blue division with a record of 3-5-2.