CANMORE – A fierce beast all season long, the U15AA Bow Valley Timberwolves took a giant bite out of the competition to handily win the South Central Alberta Hockey League banner.
And with a team loaded with Canmore talent, they're still hungry for more.
Six members of the pack who played a key role in victory are local forwards Grayden Solodan, Easton Milne, Lukas Boruta, Austin Gammon, defenceman Chase Kjemhus, and goalie Kingston Cuell.
Along with the rest of the Timberwolves, a Cochrane-based team, the super six chewed apart the Wheatland Warriors to capture the league banner, winning 2-0 in the best-of-three series last weekend.
"Our team really clicked this year," said Milne. "But it's definitely nice to have a group of guys from Canmore that we kind of carpool with and just hang out with in town."
It has been a special season for the Timberwolves, which went 30-1-1 during the season, and still have more ahead. The next challenge in front of the pack is taking down the other big dogs in provincial competition, taking place in Wainwright from March 23-26.
"I think if we play the way we can and they way we know, it'll be close, but I think if we worry about the way we play and not so much other teams we will be fine," Kjemhus said.
Solodan said: "It's pretty cool to win because you also have the ability to play longer, as most teams are finished now, so it's great to get to keep on going."
For Gammon, Boruta, Milne and Solodan, who were members of last season's U15 Canmore Eagles provincial championship team, they are going for a second-straight provincial banner.
The guys didn't want to make any predictions, but excitement washed over faces at the thought of provincials.
"It's obviously nerve-racking, but I think if you just stick to your game and play with confidence you'll do well and give your team a better chance to win," said Milne.
So far in the playoffs, Gammon leads the team in scoring with 11 goals and 15 points. Milne has five goals and 10 points.
Solodan has four helpers and Boruta has three.
Netminder Cuell is 2-0-0 between the pipes with a .900 save percentage.
