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A Peak Performance In The Mountains
Burnaby, British
Columbia, a city
nestled in a
valley with mountains
on either side as
far as the naked
eye could see, was
host to the
Women’s National
Ball Hockey
Championship. The
event, which
boasted a parade
of the
participants and
outstanding
hospitality
provided by the
tournament
organizing committee
and their
volunteers was indeed
an experience that
those in
attendance would
never forget
from the first
drop of the ball to
the Saturday
evening banquet, A Celebration of Excellence! The Oshawa Stampede’s 4-0
round robin record was of little
surprise as they
continued their impressive run off of the OBHA Pre Season and U19
Provincial Championship without a loss or tie in round robin play
scoring an
impressive 20 goals for and only allowing 1 against. The most physical
and challenging contest would be against the defensively strong
Hawks from
Vancouver and their netminder, Jennifer Price and other women’s Team
Canada members. The Stampede as they had done in other games
scored early which
would force the Hawks to open up their game plan and a lead the Stampede
would not relinquish winning 3-0 in the end. The most
challenging game
the Stampede would play was the final against the Orange Crush. Their
provincial rival and a team that could match them stride for
stride in net, on
defense and up front. The Stampede like they had done in previous
contests scored to take an early lead that would allow them to
control the tempo
with their fore checking game. Having played this opponent on many
occasions they knew the all important second goal was crucial
and for game the
tournaments leading scorer, Jenny MacLean came to the fore with a two
goal and two assist effort in this championship final. It
would be that
second goal that seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the Crush
who themselves dominated the tournament until this game. The
final versus the
Crush seemed to have a reoccurring theme from the previous match ups as
the club from Oshawa would dominate from early in the
first period to en
route to a 4-0 victory in the game. Ironically, the Stampede’s
performance at the Nationals was relatively unexpected because the
team was in a
rebuilding pattern with many of their players away at Hockey Canada’s
U-22 ice hockey camp. The 2008 gold medal win was a
culmination of
hard work at the grass roots level for the Oshawa Ball Hockey League who
featured numerous long standing members who all began
their careers in
the local house league program. Thus, the Stampede administration was
faced with the task of adding several new players to the
team, many of whom
would be new and in their late teens and early twenties. The coaching
staff of Doug and Brad Smart did a great job in having
the team peak at
the right time, while manager Doug Smart Sr. was instrumental in keeping
the players focused on the prize. Other notable news from
the event included
the induction of two local players into the CBHA Players Hall Of Fame,
Valerie Dion of the BC Vikings and Kyle Marks of the BC
Astros were
enshrined on Saturday evening during the awards ceremony. Also honored
for her career achievements of and leader in the sport of
women’s ball
hockey was Diana Brown who was the recipient of the Sarah Butterworth
Memorial Award which is presented to a female participant who
exemplifies a
player at the Nationals who displays her qualities of sportsmanship,
leadership, dedication and most importantly a love for the sport of
ball hockey. The
award winners included on the tournament allstar team (G) Kathyrn
Padmore, Toronto Orange Crush (D) Katie Watts, Oshawa
Stampede and
Jessica Staciw, Toronto Orange Crush (F) Melissa Barcelos, Edmonton
Hectic, Jenny MacLean, Oshawa Stampede and Jackie Webster,
Oshawa Stampede.
The individual player honors went to, Top Scorer, Jenny Maclean, Oshawa
Stampede who was also honored for MVP Forward, MVP
Goaltender,
Melanie Rees, Edmonton Hectic, MVP Defenace, Linda Milani, Vancouver
Hawks and Tournament MVP, Michelle Binning, Oshawa Stampede.
