CARLYLE - The Carlyle Sports Arena hosted a number of games for Minor Hockey Day on Jan. 21.
Games started at 8:30 a.m. for the under-seven teams and ended with the U18 Carlyle Cougars playing the Oxbow Huskies.
First up were the three Carlyle U7 hockey teams playing on half-ice surfaces. Team Clayton faced off against Team Fritz, and Team Brent played Arcola. The U9s were up next. Team Colin played Kipling and Team David played Redvers, again on half ice.
At 11 a.m. the U11s faced the Wawota Flyers. It was a hard-fought game with the Flyers winning 4-3. Two hours later, it was the U13s again facing a Wawota team. It was a high- scoring affair with the Flyers defeating Carlyle 15-8. Goal scorers were unavailable.
During the afternoon, the U18 Carlyle Wildcats female team played the Southwest Cyclones to an entertaining 2-2 draw. Scoring for Carlyle was Kasenya Einarson, with her team-leading ninth, and Eva Bear, scoring her first of the year.
At 5:30 p.m., the U15s fought back from a 2-0 first-period deficit to defeat the Estevan Knights 7-5. River Onufreychuk led the way with three goals and an assist. Sean Kachur had two goals and two assists, with single tallies notched by Ryder Benjamin and Hunter Colpitts. Sawyer Tomazewski added three helpers.
To end the day, the Cougars U18 team dominated play from start to finish and cruised to an easy 12-1 victory over the Oxbow Huskies. Both Tyrell Dixon and Jaden Fischer had hat tricks. Mitch Himmelspach scored twice, with Kerr Cudmore, Dawson Galbraith, Rylan Hansen and Jason Humphries also scoring. Jackson Hansen potted the lone goal for the Huskies.
All day long, attendance was excellent, and it was hard to find a parking sport. Instead of gate admission, fans were invited to donate a non-perishable food item to the Carlyle and District Foodbank. The response was overwhelming with the U15 and U18 teams assisting with packaging and delivery at the end of the day.
“Saturday was simply a fabulous day. The hockey games were enjoyed by many, and it was great to see all the blue Cougar jerseys in the stands,” said arena kitchen manager Diane Johnson. “Lots of players stayed after their own game to cheer on the next Carlyle team to hit the ice.”
She added, “Our kitchen is having its best year ever and the weekly volunteer system is working well. And I think our volumes are up because of the taste of our burgers. We have received a lot of compliments and in fact even non-hockey fans are stopping in for a delicious fast-food meal. Try our rink burgers, you will be pleasantly surprised.”
“It was a great day for the town of Carlyle and minor hockey. The day went off without a hitch and was well organized. There were a lot of donations to the local foodbank and the raffle table was a great fundraiser. Thank-you to everyone who came out,” said Carlyle Minor Hockey vice-president Jason Dixon.
