Wrapping up SMHA season

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The Strathmore Minor Hockey Association experienced something that no hockey program can prepare for: losing a valuable member of their program.
Even with the loss of young Emma Armstrong from the Strathmore Storm Midget 1 female squad, the SMHA did all they could do; they continued moving forward while honouring one of their program’s very own.
“We had outstanding coaches behind the bench, help from the parents and amazing support from the community during this season,” said SHMA President Natalie Haslund. “Even Hockey Alberta reached out and asked what they could do to help. It’s from all that support that I think the girls were able to come through as a group and finish the year the way they did. We are all very proud of them.”
The top female midget program did the best they could in dealing with the tragedy. The Storm went on to capture silver at provincials and edged out the Rocky Mountain Female Hockey League title in the Game 3 of a best-of-three series to the Girls Hockey Calgary Red Inferno on home ice.
“It was an absolutely remarkable ending to the season when you think of everything that they had to go through,” said Haslund. “They really came together and found a way to come out on top of all of this.”
New to this season was the second midget female program in the SMHA. They also experienced some success, as they went 11-6-1 and finished in third after the regular season.
The Storm reached the league final where Airdrie swept them in two games. This season, Lucia Dahm, who registered 22 goals, led the Storm with nine assists in 12 regular season games.
Staying on the female side, the bantam Storm competing in the Yellow division didn’t share the success of the older programs. The Storm finished 3-10-5, with Sydney White leading the way with 19 goals and five assists in 18 games. In the playoffs, Okotoks ousted the Storm in the first round.
Only two programs on the male side captured their respective Central Alberta Hockey League title.
The Novice 2 Storm (10-6-2) playing in the South East division flipped the script on their season around Christmas and ended up finishing in first after the regular season. Led by Carter Radford and his 27 goals, the Storm clipped the Indus Lightning 2-1 in the best-of-three league final.
“Last year, we only had one team make it to provincials and had a lot less teams reach the playoff rounds,” said Haslund. “I would say that this year was easily a successful one when you think about how many teams advanced to the playoffs.”
After running to a second-place finish, the Atom Storm (8-5-1) swept Crossfield 2-0 in the 6B league final.
“You never know how many times these kids will compete for a league title growing up, so it was great to see them make the most of this one,” said Storm Head Coach Derek Puttick. “They worked their butts off for it, so for me, the satisfaction comes in seeing them enjoy the success that came from all their hard work.”
Puttick’s son, Kaeden, was one of the top scorers across the SMHA with 23 goals and 15 assists in 14 games.
The Atom Storm out of Tier 7 South Central were the only other club in the age group to make a run at a title. After going 8-5-1 and finishing third, the Storm were swept by Cardston in the semis.
“I think we saw a lot more success this year because of the 3P coaching program we started, training coaches from the Timbit level up to Atom,” said Haslund. “I think we saw improvement in our coaches which then led to improvements in our players.”
The leading scorer in the SMHA resided with the Atom Storm (11-3-1) of the Tier 2 Yellow division. Jordon Hendricks racked up 34 goals and 21 assists in 15 games, as his team fell 2-1 in the league final to the Indus Lightning.
Filling out the Atom age group, the Storm (1-9-5) finished sixth in the Tier 3 South division and were led by Brody Tashlikowich’s 11 goals. In Tier 4 Central, the Storm went 3-15-0 to finish seventh. Declan Wurz powered the crew with seven goals.
No peewee Storm teams reached as much as a semifinal this year.
In the South Tier 1 division, the peewee Storm went 5-8-1, finishing fifth, as Kaiden Healy paced the club with 12 goals and seven assists. In the South Central Tier 4 bracket, the Storm went 4-13-0, with Tanner Phillips leading the way with 13 goals and assists. Adam Johnson sniped 20 markers as his Storm went 7-6-1 in Tier 5 South Central to finish fifth. Wrapping up the peewee division was the Storm in Tier 6 South, which went 3-9-2 to place fourth, with Landon Hein scoring nine goals and seven assists.
Only two bantam programs for the Storm this season. In the second tier, the Storm went 5-5-4 with Austin Haslund sniping 10 goals. Marshall Sims potted 11 goals in 15 games to lead the Storm (4-9-2) through the Central Tier 5 division.
Wrapping up the most populated age group with local teams, in Novice, the Storm went 6-8-1 through the Tier 3 Southwest season, as Dane Lewis netted 15 goals. The Storm struggled in Tier 4 Northeast, going 1-13-1, as Kale Van Bavel registered 17 goals. The Storm in Tier 5 West went 3-14-1 and were led by Riley Lohse’s 14 goals and five assists.
A pair of novice teams competed in the Tier 6 Central division. The Storm Black went 8-6-1 and were led by Grayson Hardy with 22 goals, while the Storm Silver (1-14-0) were led by Carter Kent’s 26 snipes.
The three midget programs didn’t make as much of a splash as last year’s program did, but still turned in productive seasons.
Playing in the top tier in the South division, the Storm went 4-13-1 led by Tyren Grimsdale and his 19 goals. In the West Tier 3, the Storm (4-10-1) finished fifth and was led by Shiloh Petit and his seven goals. The Storm (0-14-0) in Tier 4 Central struggled, going winless, as Adam Smith led the way with four goals and eight points.
Plans for next season are already underway, as the SMHA believes they will max out the number of roster positions available for each team. Haslund anticipates 510 kids in the program next year, which is up from slightly under 400 skaters two years ago. As a result of the influx, the SMHA will add an Atom female team for next season.
For those interested in the SMHA, Haslund and the board will be holding an open house April 18 (7 p.m.) at the Civic Centre for people of the community to learn what is taking place in the program.