Two Ice Dragons’ teams in the Finals this weekend!

This weekend Penticton has TWO female teams in the OMAHA playoff finals.  (A Historic Weekend!)

1. We invite everyone and anyone to come cheer on the PENTICTON BANTAM ICE DRAGONS as they take on Lillooett in the Bantam final at OHS 12:15 Saturday.  This  young team has played hard and deserves our recognition!

2. The PENTICTON MIDGET HOUSE VEES have already won the banner for the Female Superleague. Now they play their final playoff game against Kelowna at Mclaren Friday night 6:45. Expect this to be a rough and tumble game!

As you all know, all of our teams have done exceptionally well this year.  The novice females have improved steadily and will be fighting for banners in the next few years!

This weekend, both teams are 1-1 with their competitor and playing against tough teams.  They can use all the local encouragement they can get!  Hope to see you there!

In the meantime, the Midget Rep team is preparing to host the BC Hockey Provincial Tournament here in Penticton from March 15-20, 2015.

Playoffs’ fever has hit Penticton

The regular season is fun. Players go through the motion, learn new skills and listen to coaches work with them on improving each time they hit the ice. It’s an excellent opportunity to work on improving skills, try new things and get into shape. But the real fun time of the season is during playoffs, when the competitive juices are flowing and it’s time to reach deep down to beat our opponents by not only applying what we’ve learned throughout the year, but to see what we’re made off, what’s in our belly.

 

Well it’s no different for our Female teams as the Ice Dragons’ program is showing having taken great strides once again this season. In addition to a very successful season by our young Novice-aged girls, the three teams in the playoffs are showing that the Ice Dragons are not to be messed with!

 

MIDGET REP

 

Penticton (3-10-3) vs Kamloops (13-1-2)
In what is the Semi-Finals of the Female A division for OMAHA, Penticton lost the first game of the series by a very respectable 4-2 score. Game two of this series is scheduled for Saturday, February 14th at 6:45 PM at McLaren Arena when Coach Shawn Carter’s team will try taking advantage of the home crowd to tie this series at one a piece. If succeed, the deciding game is set for the next day, Sunday February 15th at 4:30 PM at Valleyview Arena in Kamloops.

 

MIDGET REC

 

Kelowna (6-4-2) vs Penticton (11-1-0)
Finishing 1st in league play, Penticton has been patiently waiting to know their adversary in the Semi-Finals. In what promised to be a good match-up, Clearwater, the only team to beat the Ice Dragons all season, was the opponent and even short a few key players this past weekend, the girls reached deeper and won this series in two straight game by a combined score of 10-4. Kelowna beat Vernon two games to one earn a spot in the finals. The next and final series should start this Valentine’s Day weekend.

 

BANTAM REC

 

Penticton (5-5-2) vs Lillooet (10-1-1)
In a gutsy effort in a series reaching its limit, Penticton upset Kelowna two games to one to get to the finals while Lillooet had a relatively easy time against a win less Kamloops team. The Ice Dragons hope to keep the momentum going against what promises to be a formidable opponent. This series should also start this coming weekend.

 

For complete schedule, visit the OMAHA link on our main page.

 

Good luck girls!

 

 

 

Penticton girls have fun developing their skills

by Emanuel Sequeira – Penticton Western News
posted Feb 11, 2014 at 4:00 PM

FAITH MARCOTTE made several key saves for the Penticton bantam female rep [Ice Dragons] team in an 11-1 loss to the Kamloops Blazers in the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association playoffs. Even though they were swept from the playoffs, the players had fun and the coaches said it was a good development year. — Image Credit: Emanuel Sequeira/Western News

Penticton’s bantam female rep hockey team was swept from the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association playoffs, but that didn’t put a damper on their spirits.

“It’s been a learning experience, I think, for a lot of the girls,” said [Ice Dragons] coach Shawn Carter, who was happy with the year. “It’s the first time they have played rep hockey. We have a young team, that’s a big challenge for them to go play a Kamloops team (tops in the league) that has mostly second-year players.”

After losing in Kamloops 6-0 Saturday, the [Ice Dragons] lost 11-1 at home in Memorial Arena Sunday.

“I didn’t think we played as well yesterday. Today (Sunday) I thought we came out a lot stronger. Didn’t get the breaks at the beginning,” said Carter.

The [Ice Dragons] coaches were happy with how hard the players competed and supported each other. Not only did they celebrate enthusiastically after Faith Stark scored, but the players rushed to goalie Faith Marcotte after making a big save on a breakaway late in the game.

“It felt good,” said Marcotte on having her teammates give her praise for the save. “I was getting really frustrated at that point. The shot went right to my glove. That wouldn’t have really done anything. My glove is my stronger side.”

When the [Ice Dragons] were in the offensive zone, Carter liked the chances they created. However, he said they needed to do more of it. To him, they turned the puck over too often.

Marcotte, who joined the team from the South Okanagan, said they had a good year despite not winning a lot. The OMAHA website shows they lost all 12 games, but were the least penalized team with 46 minutes.

“We all had a lot of fun and a lot of us made new friends,” she said. “Lots of positives.”

“I think we had a great year, we started off slow,” said Stark, the Vees other goalie “We developed. (The playoffs) was difficult but I think we battled pretty hard.”

Throughout the season, Carter said, the players improved in their skill development. Prior to the season, none of them knew how to play a system.

Carter also praised the work of Stark and Marcotte, who were solid all year. Entering the season, Marcotte said she wasn’t very strong in her position and improved her butterfly play.

“I couldn’t really do any slides or anything,” she said, adding now she is able to move quicker and slides better.

Stark improved her skating ability, while having fun with the group. That was the most important factor for her.

A Penticton Western News article

Ice Dragons’ playoffs schedule

Come and cheer our girls in their best of 3 series!

PEEWEE REC

• Saturday, February 1, 2014: Lillooet VS Ice Dragons 4:15pm-5:45pm at McLaren Arena
• Sunday, February 2, 2014: Lillooet VS Ice Dragons 7:45am-9:15am at Memorial Arena
• *Saturday, February 8, 2014: Ice Dragons AT Lillooet 5:30pm-7:00pm in Lillooet

BANTAM REP

• Saturday, February 8, 2014: Ice Dragons AT Kamloops 2:30pm-4:30pm at MAC NHL
• Sunday, February 9, 2014: Kamloops VS Ice Dragons 12:00pm-2:00pm at Memorial Arena
• *Friday, February 14, 2014: Ice Dragons AT Kamloops 6:00pm-8:00pm at Memorial Kamloops

MIDGET REC

• Saturday, February 1, 2014: Chase VS Ice Dragons 1:45pm-3:30pm at Memorial Arena
• Saturday, February 8, 2014: Ice Dragons AT Chase 1:30pm-3:15pm in Chase
• *Sunday, February 9, 2014: Chase VS Ice Dragons 2:15pm-4:00pm at Memorial Arena

* If necessary