An Alberta provincial banner will be going up in the barn as the Lloydminster U15 Male Tier 3 Blazers cap off their 2022 season.
Coach Troy Wandler is in his second year and shares the team’s joy at this win.
With a raspy voice from all of the celebratory shouting, Wandler says last season with the COVID challenges they had just four games. He is thankful for all the support.
“I would just like to thank all the parents for allowing me to coach these boys. It’s a great group of parents and a great group of kids. They deserve this win. They are just a great example of a group of kids that came together as a team and had a great year.”
With some of the team graduating to midgets next year Wandler says it’s a great way to end off their season. He sees the win in the wider context of the overall success of Lloydminster hockey programs.
“We have lots of good role models with the most recent players that have come from Lloydminster. They all know names like Cory Cross, Clarke MacArthur and Wade Redden. All these names they know have come out of Lloydminster. The recent ones like Ty Smith and Kale Clague are others that the boys can look up to. So we have got a great hockey town.”
Wandler salutes the role of the coaching staff including Merv Mann, Mike Strilchuk, Don Jamieson and Tyler Zacharias for their work with the team to achieve the provincial title.