The atoms are league champions! Starting in front, laying down is goaltender Drake Chester, Cam Perlinger and Cobe Perlinger. Middle row: Nathan Holland, Kale Sackville, Austin Schafer, Avery Bertoia, Paityn Hughes. Back row: trainer Corey Kipling, coach Jaymie Holland, Jayden Holland, assistant coach Warren Schafer, Chase Douglas, Wyatt Brotzel, manager Curtis Chester, Kaleb Kipling and assistant coach Jeff Perlinger.
Kevin McBain
of The Clarion
The Kindersley Atom Longhorn Oil Klippers swept through the season and won the Hi-Way 14 hockey league championships this past weekend with a sweep of the North Battleford Oil Barons 1 squad.
They won game one 11-8 in Kindersley Friday and closed off the best-of-three final 10-4 in North Battleford Sunday.
The team was undefeated (34-0-1) this season through the regular season and tournaments, with their only blemish a tie in the second round of the playoffs against a different North Battleford squad.
The team finished 16-0 during the regular season.
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Coach Jaymie Holland said that the players really went all out.
“The kids played real hard all throughout the season and we had a great group of coaches and parents that were committed throughout the entire season which is great,” he said.
He said that the leadership on the team also was key.
“We had a good front end and they were our leaders,” said Holland. “We gave Cam and Cobe Perlinger and Jayden Holland the letters on the team to challenge them,” he said. “They really stepped it up and their attitudes and sportsmanship that they displayed really led the way for the team and the rest of the player came along beside them.”
He also said that many of the players adapted really well to new roles that they were given.
“We did give some of the players different roles than what they were used to and they stepped right in and did well,” said Holland. “They all gave it their best and never shied away from the challenge.”
This year’s team consisted of 12 players including five second years and seven first year players.
In the finals, Holland said that the Barons definitely gave them a challenge. The squad was 16-0 during the regular season and finished first in the North division.
“We knew we would be in tough after that first game,” said Holland. “They played well and gave a big push in the end to make the game close.”
In the second game Sunday, the Klippers really took control early.
“We scored early and got the ball rolling and it was 4-0 after the first period,” he said. “The team’s confidence was really high going into the first intermission and from then on you could tell that they definitely wanted the win.”
The Kindersley 3 team also did well finishing second in the league with a 14-2 regular season record. They lost out to the Battleford Barons 1 team in the second round of the playoffs.
The Kindersley Klippers 2 team finished fourth with a 10-5-1 regular season record. They lost out to the Barons 1 team in the first round of the playoffs.
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