The Quesnel and District Minor Hockey Association hosted the Canadian Tire Atoms Tournament on Feb. 3-4 for Quesnel’s house teams, with additional teams attending from across the region. Sixteen teams in total were on the ice over the weekend, with players age nine and 10.
A Vanderhoof team ended up in the final against Mackenzie, with Vanderhoof winning 2-1.
Quesnel’s Blue Fountain Tire team faced Williams Lake to battle it out for third and fourth places, and Quesnel beat the southern team by 3-2, scoring in the final seconds of the third period to win the game.
100 Mile came fifth in the tournament, winning against Quesnel Green West Fraser Mills team, which came sixth; and Quesnel Red Unifor Local 1115 team beat another Williams Lake team 5-3 to take seventh place.
Atom house director Adam Kishkan says the tournament had a great turnout and Quesnel teams played well.
“Blue came in third, scoring the winning goal with eight seconds left in the third period, so that was a great game, a real nailbiter,” he comments.
Two visiting coaches also happened to be former Quesnel residents, with Chad Swanson coaching 100 Mile House and Shane Baker coaching Vanderhoof’s team.
“It made it fun because lots of the kids and parents knew people on the out-of-town teams,” says Kishkan.
The Atom division teams will play in a mini-tournament again next month, with Quesnel hosting the North Cariboo District teams – from Quesnel, 100 Mile House and Williams Lake – on Mar. 10.