Apr 12, 2015 | Daryll Smith | 1230 views
Provincial Champions
Game “70” of the 2014 – 2015 Kitchener Lady Rangers Bantam “A”
season came to an incredible end for a great group of hard working ladies.
On behalf of Bill, Sarah and Tim, I wanted to take a minute to congratulate the ladies on their Provincial Championship. As we said to you after the Stoney Creek Tournament, “no Provincial Championship has ever been awarded in September”. We understood that it may have been a hard “buy in” for players (and parents alike) when we said that the first five months of tournaments and LLFHL regular season games were not about winning but were about development. Our goal remained to develop you as a team to place yourself in the best possible position come February to qualify for Provincials.
Over your seventy game season, you compiled a 39-19-12 record, embraced our systems of play and really bought into the concept of “support”. Your commitment to “D-Zone coverage first” and the execution of smart “choices and options” was amazingly on display this weekend. Not only did you win all six of your Provincial games but you only gave up 4 goals along the way!
The reward is a very difficult one to obtain. Twenty four of the best teams from across the province competed this weekend which narrowed down to an “elite eight” and then a “final four”. Our many thanks to the Oakville Hornets (1-0; 2-1 quarter final), Ottawa Ice (4-1), Stratford Aces (4-0), Sudbury Wolves (3-1 semi-final) and Stoney Creek Sabers (2-1 final) for six great games of hockey.
As we told you earlier in the season, “you don’t always get what you WISH for, you get what you WORK for”. You all worked tremendously hard this weekend and throughout the season. You supported each other on and off the ice, remained polite and respectful to each other and represented the team, as well as the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association, with respect. Provincial gold could not have happened for a nicer bunch of ladies.
CONGRATULATIONS to all the Kitchener Lady Rangers Bantam “A” players and staff who are the 2014 – 2015 OWHA Bantam “A” Provincial Champions!