U11 Coyotes claim first ever banner victory

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The East Wheatland Athletic Association (EWAA) U11 Coyotes have claimed their first-ever banner win, after emerging victorious from the Central Alberta Hockey League (CAHL) Tier 4 yellow group championships.

Head Coach of the Coyotes, Ty Corbiel, said his team’s best of three series against Black Diamond kicked off about as tight to the wire as it gets, with the first game ending in triple overtime, about one minute before going to a shootout. 

“It was quite exciting – our team was pretty pumped. We really played well as a team and it was a pretty exciting victory,” he said. “The crowd was big and they were super excited, especially having played into overtime like that.”

The following day, the Coyotes sealed the deal against the Black Diamonds with a much more comfortable two goal lead at the end of the game, earning them the banner. 

Corbiel added that Black Diamond were the only team to have bested the Coyotes during the regular season of play, so it felt good for his team to get some payback at the end of the season.

“It was maybe even a little intimidating (going up against Black Diamond) thinking, ‘hey, this team has beat us before,’ but we played very well and we were on our game,” he said.

The CAHL is divided into several different colour groupings. Tier 4 Yellow consists of the Coyotes, Black Diamond, Strathmore, Foothills, Airdrie and Cochrane, among others. 

As the new Yellow champions, the Coyotes are now squaring off in a tournament against the champions of the other colour groups for the overall championship. 

The EWAA kicked off when Gleichen, Hussar and Standard decided to consolidate their teams under one jersey. This banner win represents not only the first for the new association, but also the first that any of the participating municipalities have laid claim to in the category and age group in over a decade. 

“The players (showed) a lot of determination and drive this year, great attitudes (and they) were really coachable,” said Corbiel. “We also have a great coaching and management team – it wasn’t just myself. The other coaches were Kyle Crump and Craig Nelson, and our manager is Nick Phillips. It’s not just one coach who makes a difference here.”