George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
Hockey is to Canada what baseball and football is to America. But that didn’t stop the Havre Ice Hawks High School hockey team from capturing first-place honors at a tournament north of the border this past weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, the Ice Hawks were in Bow Island, Alberta, and the veteran team from Havre rolled to three victories, including a 7-4 victory over the Medicine Hat Canadians in Sunday afternoon’s championship game. In the title tilt, the Ice Hawks got a pair of timely goals from Brad Hansen to help pad their lead against the Canadians, and star goalie David Zentmire was brilliant between the pipes. Zentmire stopped 35 Medicine Hat shots in what was a tremendous offensive game by both teams. Adding to Havre’s total in the championship game was Shane Kemmer, who scored twice, including goals on assists from Kyle Miller, Chase Hanson and Beau Briese. Briese, Todd Roe and Paul Turner also found the net once each in the contest, and Brad Hanson added an assist to his stellar outing. The Ice Hawks also got assists from Adam Briese, Luke Ryan and Dillon McLain. Havre reached the championship game thanks to wins over Medicine Hat Cajun Motors and Okotoks, Alberta. On Saturday, the Ice Hawks drubbed Cajun Motors 9-1.The big story was McLain, who scored a hat trick for the Ice Hawks, while Mason Sheppard and Roe each scored two goals. Kemmer and Beau Briese also netted goals for the Ice Hawks, while Zentmire and Will DeVries combined to stop 19 shots on goal in the easy Havre victory. The key game for the Ice Hawks came on Saturday night when they defeated Okotoks, 5-3. Sheppard came up big for Havre,scoring two goals and one assist. Sheppard’s goals came on assists by Tyler Boyce and Roe, as well as an assist by Ryan Armstrong. Brad Hanson, Armstrong, and Boyce also scored goals for the Ice Hawks, and Chase Hanson and Armstrong had two assists a piece in the semifinal victory. The Ice Hawks, who are unbeaten on the season with one tie, will now prepare to travel to a tournament in Missoula.
