Kingston Ice Wolves Midget AA

The sun went down on the 2006-07 edition of the Kingston Tragically Hip Ice Wolves Midget AA team at approximately 9:15 AM on Saturday, April 14. That is the time the final buzzer sounded in the final game at the Ontario Championships. The Wolves, with their third straight loss, would not advance into the medal round, and that is what the records will show.

In actual fact, the Wolves’ season ended about thirteen hours earlier and not because of a loss. Not directly anyway. The Ice Wolves were soundly beaten by an incompetent referee in a game against the Guelph Thunder. Here is how it played out:

The Ice Wolves arrived at the Iceland Arena complex in Mississauga on Friday morning and played their first game against the Brampton Canadettes. The Wolves started slowly and Brampton scored early in the first period. As the game went on, it appeared as though the Wolves began to find their legs, and by midway through the second period, they were winning their share of shifts and the two teams appeared to be fairly equal.

The Wolves suffered a major setback that would change everything late in the second period. Veteran defenceman Tanya Williams was involved in a violent collision right in front of the Ice Wolves bench that caused ligament damage in her knee and would spell the end of her season. Kingston coach Rick Small was disappointed that there was no penalty call. "There is a rule that states that if a player is injured by another player while theoffending  player is commiting an infraction, then the penalty is a five minute major and an automatic ejection from the game. We have had that interpretation go against us several times for thngs much less serious than this but in the opinion of the referee, it was an accidental collision. I certainly hope the other player did not intentionally take a run at Tanya."

The Ice Wolves soldiered on and appeared to be gaining momentum in the third but with less than a minute left to play and coach Small preparing to pull goalie Brittany Dolan in favour of an extra attacker, the Canadettes chipped a puck out of the Wolves’ zone and scored the clincher. They would add an empty netter to make the final 3-0.

So the Wolves knew they had to win their next game to have any chance of advancing to the medal round and they came back six hours later mentally and physically prepared to do battle with Guelph. They knew the task would be much more difficult with the loss of Tanya Williams but the attitude was good… they were READY.

At the outset, it looked like the teams were relatively equal in talent and the crowd was settled in for what looked like a very entertaining game. But the referee would have none of it. He began to "steal the show" right off the bat with questionable penalty calls all the while making sure that the focus was constantly on him. Never mind that time after time he interrrupted the flow of the game by blocking the puck from advancing along the boards because it appeared he either could not or would not move when he was obviously an obstruction… Never mind that he did not appear to be able to keep up with the play because all of the players could skate faster than he could… as long as he created drama and tension with theatrical penalty calls, he appeared to be satisfied.

As is usually the case in games like these, the players become frustrated, and do things they would not normally do and the game deteriorates into a disjointed, whistle interrupted exercise in frustration instead of the poetry on ice that hockey should be.

The record will show that the Ice Wolves lost the most important game of the season 3-1 to Guelph and were eliminated from contention. Diana Boultbee scored the only Wolves’ goal and rookie Jess Allison took the loss in net

What the record will NOT show is that two Guelph goals came while the Wolves were two players short, and the third was scored while they were one player short. The record will also not show that Allison played very well despite surrendering three goals because she was constantly under siege by a very good Guelph power play. And the record will certainly not show the emotional carnage that was the scene in the Ice Wolves’ dressing room following the game as the players, who have become a close-knit family over the past season, realized that their dream of advancing to the medal round was now over.

Especially saddened were the Wolves six third year players who will not be back next season. Captain Brenley Jorgensen, assistants Emma Pyke, Jen Donaldson and Kaitlyn Desousa, injured defenceman Tanya Williams and goalie Brittany Dolan now knew they had played their last meaningful game in an Ice Wolves Midget AA uniform. There would be one more game, a meaningless Saturday morning contest against the Markham Stouffville Stars, but the Wolves emotional reservoir was empty and they would play this game for fun only.

To their credit, the Ice Wolves Midget AA team played their final game with class and dignity and although they lost 5-2, each and every player gave all they had till the end. Captain Brenley Jorgensen capped off her brilliant Midget career with a goal and an assist on a power play goal by another veteran, Kaitlyn Desousa. One of the highlights of the game was the final shift, that saw all six of the departing vets, including the injured Williams who dressed just for this moment, on the ice together. Coach Rick Small even called a timeout and snapped a picture. 

Coach Small, in his final post game interview, shared these thoughts: "Obviously I would have preferred a different ending, but it was just not our time. I guess we take away from this the fact that we can play with any team in Ontario. Durham won the gold and we beat them in the final of the Eastern Ontario Showcase tournament and Nepean made the final four and we beat them the only time we played them this year so we were close. I just wish we would have gotten consistent refereeing. The guy that did the Guelph game just took us out of it. In a thirty minute game we were two players short three times… that is tough to defend. He probably has never played so he does not understand the flow of the game. As a coach, it is hard to stand in front of your players after a game like that and tell them everything is OK when it isn’t. Too many times this season we have had referees take over games and take the fun and competition away. And I am not alone in thinking this, I have talked to many coaches this year who feel the same way. It is way more than a coach whining because he lost, I have felt this way in games we have won and so have other coaches."

He went on to say that despite the ending, he felt the season was a success. "We won way more than we lost and I think the girls had a lot of fun together. Friendshps were forged that will last a lifetime. I am in awe of the talent and the maturity of the players that made up the 2006-07 Ice Wolves. There are many bright futures within this group and I will watch their progress both in hockey and in life for years to come" he said.

By Jack Mackson

In any sport, in any league, losing one game over an entire schedule would make for a pretty satisfying season. Unless, as was the case with the Kingston Tragically Hip Midget AA Ice Wolves, it happened to be the last game of the season.

The Wolves, undefeated in league games and playoffs this season, were at the Barrett arena in Ottawa on Sunday to defend their league title against the best Intermediate A team in the province, the Rideau St Lawrence Thunder. And despite the fact that the Wolves had not lost to the Thunder in three previous meetings this season, they could not make it four as they dropped a 4-1 decision to their more experienced opponents and had to settle for silver medals.

According to Wolves’ coach Rick Small, his team knew exactly what to expect against the Thunder. "We knew they would be very aggressive on the puck in their end and try to dominate down low in our end, we were prepared for that, but they just executed their game plan extremely well. I think they showed everybody why they won the Ontario Intermediate A gold medal two weeks ago. They are a very good team", he said.

The Thunder put the Wolves on their heels on the second shift of the game as they converted a 2 on 1 break into a goal on their very first shot. The rest of the first period was fairly even and right up until the halfway point of period two it appeared that it was just a matter of time until the Wolves would tie the score, as they had done so many times throughout the season. But two Thunder goals in 15 seconds at the midway point of the second period sealed the Ice Wolves’ fate, putting them into a hole they just could not dig themselves out of.

A power play goal by Amelia Keech with 4:19 to play and Wolves’ goalie Brittany Dolan giving way to an extra attacker gave Wolves’ fans a glimmer of hope but the Thunder sealed it with an empty net goal with just less than three minutes remaining.

The locals now must shake off this disappointing defeat and begin to prepare for the Ontario Midget AA Championship which will be played in Toronto the weekend of April 13-15. Kingston will be one of the top 22 teams in Ontario that will compete for the gold medal. The format is a three game round robin followed by playoffs for the top ten teams.

The Ice Wolves schedule is as follows:

Friday April 13, 12:15 PM vs Brampton Canadettes

Friday April 13, 7:00 PM vs Guelph Thunder

Saturday, April 14, 8:15 AM vs Markham Stouffville Stars

Tragically Hip Midget AA Ice Wolves Open Playoffs With Two Wins

By Jack Mackson

The Kingston Tragically Hip Midget AA Ice Wolves began defence of their ODWHA championship with two big wins on the weekend. The Wolves, who went undefeated in regular season play, demolished the third ranked Kanata Blazers on Saturday at the Kanata Sports Complex by a 7-1 score, and returned home on Sunday to shut out the Rideau St Lawrence Intermediate A Thunder 1-0.

In Kanata, the Wolves scored early and often as captain Brenley Jorgensen gave the locals a 1-0 lead on the first shift of the game. The Wolves went on to build a 4-0 lead early in the second period on goals by Meghan Steacy, Tanya Williams and Diana Boultbee before the Blazers countered with their only goal of the game, which actually was a deflection off a Wolves’ defender.

With the second period coming to a close and the Blazers showing flashes of dominance, the Ice Wolves completely deflated the home team as Ameilia Keech blasted home a faceoff win by Sarah Small with only one second remaining in the second period. The third period was much like the first as the Wolves scored twice more, with Jorgensen netting her second and Beth Ann Brown wrapping things up with just 2:26 left to play. Jorgensen also had a pair of assists for a four point afternoon. Brittany Dolan was outstanding in goal for the Ice Wolves, especially on two Kanata power plays. In the first period with the Wolves leading 2-0, Dolan was called upon to make several spectacular saves and again in the third, with Kanata on a long two man advantage, Dolan was rock solid and took away any chance of Kanata getting back in the game.

On Sunday at Kinsmen arena in Kingston, the Wolves faced a much stiffer test at the hands of the Rideau St Lawrence Thunder. The Thunder had captured the Ontario Intermediate A gold medal one week earlier at the Provincial tournament in Toronto and were chomping at the bit to pay the Ice Wolves back for their only loss of the regular season.

In what coach Rick Small described as "probably our most complete game of the season" the Wolves matched their more experienced opponents stride for stride and shot for shot and claimed a 1-0 victory on a third period goal by Kaitlyn Desousa. The goal came off a feed from left winger Teaghan McLaren, but an unofficial assist could have gone to Hannah Bagnall for the strong forecheck that caused a turnover in the Thunder zone. 

For the second straight game, Brittany Dolan was absolutely zoned in in the Ice Wolves' goal as she withstood several barrages that included lots of contact by the Thunder forwards.

The Ice Wolves carried the play and could have won by 2 or 3. A brilliant goal by Brenley Jorgensen was disallowed because the net was ajar even though the whistle did not sound until the puck was in the net and Diana Boultbee had a breakaway on the empty net in the dying seconds and was hauled down.

Coach Small was full of praise for his young team. "That was quite a weekend to say the least. In Kanata, the girls executed our system to perfection. And when Kanata was on the attack the combination of our defence and Brittany Dolan in goal just absolutely shut down their offence."

In commenting on the big win over the Thunder, he said it was a little like David slaying Goliath. "That is the best Intermediate A team in Ontario and when you consider that some of their players are a full six years older than our girls it is astonishing to me how our team matched them physically. We have played them three times this season and every game has been the same… fast, exciting and knife edge close. I am afraid to blink when we play them because I might miss something" he said.

The Wolves now take a three week break from playoff action to accommodate high school March Break, and return to action March 24 in Cornwall. Their fourth and final playoff game is scheduled for Sunday March 25 vs the Outaouais Intermediates, time and place to be determined.