The Annual Pembroke Regional Silver Stick Hockey Tournament is a time honored and highly coveted tournament for many, many boys and girls hockey teams. This year the Bantam B Castor River Coyotes entered the BB division and brought home the Championship !

All the competition was tough and our first game was a hard fought battle against a league rival Kanata. The Castor River Coyotes took an early lead when Katie Bakker slid the puck under the Kanata goalie with a nifty backhander. Bakker added another goal padding the lead to 2-0. Kanata would not give up and got one back just as the Coyotes finished killing off a penalty.  The Coyotes would not yield another goal thanks to our strong play from our defense and a few tricky saves by goaltender Shawlee Gaudreault. Our first round robin game would end at 2-1 and Defenseman Vero Guilbeault took the player of the game award.

Early into game two it became evident the Ottawa Valley team, the only BB team in the tournament, would be the squad to beat. Both teams were neck and neck for the first half of the game until Madison Byrne slammed in a beautiful rebound on a shot from the hashmarks giving the Coyotes the lead. Unfortunately Ottawa Valley tied the score with a power play goal and although we fought hard we were unable to score another goal. The well deserved player of the game award went to a hard working Maddy Byrne.

Game three was the final game in the round robin and a win would guarantee us first place. Both teams played a tight checking fast paced game but the Coyotes scored first after Madison Byrne scored her 2^nd goal of the tournament. Our team played a solid defensive game and kept Carleton Place from tying the game even when they had a power play and pulled their goalie making it a six on four hockey game. Due to the solid defensive play from Emma Chesser, Alex Clarke, Rachel Bekker and Vero Guilbeault we were able to hang on 1-0. Shawlee Gaudreault’s big saves were amazing and her shutout won her the player of the game. We finished the round robin in first place and were ready to play in the semi finals! 

The girls entered the semi-finals against archrivals Kanata Rangers with confidence. The game was played at the Pembroke Memorial Center and some of the Pembroke Lumber Kings players were seen picking up a few tips from the girls for their game that afternoon. The game started in our favour with a nifty goal from Sophie Lafrance. The Coyotes were on the hunt and were up 3-0 after the first period. We were all over Kanata and Janick Leagult, Katie Bakker and Katherine Innes scored some great rebound goals. Matilde Boulerice and Rachel Bekkers pitched in with 2 assists each. The final score was a whopping 6-1, with another goal from Sophie and Katherine. Sophie was very deserving of the player of the game.

Nail biting time! It’s the final game and we’re playing for the championship against the BB team from game two.  Ottawa Valley threw everything they had including the kitchen sink at the Coyotes in the first period. The defense bent but did not break and the first period ended with no score thanks to some great defensive work from wingers Tori Picketts and Mellisa Bergeron who had to shut down the top line of the Ottawa Valley team. The Coyotes got their legs going in the second and Bakker slammed one home after some hard fore-checking and puck cycling by line mates Maddison Byrne and Katherine Innes. Again, with more solid defense and spectacular saves from Shawlee Gaudreault the Coyotes carried a 1-0 lead into the third. The Ottawa Valley team was determined to come back but Carly McKinnon-Humphreys scored early in the third on a nice solo effort after a beautiful feed from Rachel Bekkers to seal the Victory and bring home the 2009 Silver Stick Regional Bantam BB Championship. Go Coyotes go!!

 Written By Katie Bakker and Tori Picketts