The Elk Valley Wild Midget Rep hockey team came in second at the weekend’s invitational tournament.
Even though they won all their other games of the weekend, they lost to their rival team, the Invermere Rockies, 5-0.
“They were flat,” said team manager, Valerie Luznar-Purdy, about Sunday’s game.
Stefen Seel got a hat trick on Sunday, scoring three goals for the Rockies. Sam McIlwain and Damon Raven scored the other two goals of the game.
There were eight teams from the two divisions playing in the tournament. Most of the teams were from Alberta.
“They just don’t get a lot of ice,” said Luznar-Purdy, “They take any chance they have to play.”
She said that the skill level of some of the teams did not match the skill level of the Wild and the Rockies.
“Invermere is very strong,” said Luznar-Purdy. “It’s up to the coaches to assess the skill level of their team.”
She hopes that the tournament will be an annual event.
“The weekend was successful because everyone involved worked hard to do what they do best,” said Luznar-Purdy.
She said there was a lot of hard work put in by the rink attendants, who were doing double duty with the All-Star and Prospect games at the Fernie Memorial Arena.
The Elk Valley Wild are now gearing up for a league game against Creston.
Luznar-Purdy is hoping to organize a couple more exhibition games.
The Wild will also be playing in zone playoffs on February 12, and in league playoffs on February 26.