For a first-time foray, it was quite the ride in the 2024-25 Circle K Classic.
Nobody saw it coming from the host city’s school, either.
But those who jammed Max Bell Centre for Wednesday’s championship finale — along with victorious Shattuck-St. Mary’s — left with a new appreciation for Calgary International Hockey Academy, even if the players on the runner-up crew were left shattered by the 1-0 decision to the mighty American squad.
“You wouldn’t want to walk in there right now,” said CIHA head coach Tyson Soloski, with a head-nod towards the dressing room just moments after the final buzzer. “It’s sad in there. It’s disappointment. It’s (tears).
“It’s all that.”
It’s understandable, given how close the locals got — three-crossbars-and-a-couple-of-man-advantage-misses close — to pulling off a stunning upset of the now defending two-time champion juggernauts from Minnesota.
“Angry but proud,” said CIHA captain Benett Kelly. “Yeah … the boys are sad, after … you know … working that hard and really coming together as a group. It’s really tough to lose like that.
“But proud of how our team played and proud of how everyone handled themselves the whole tournament. Just proud of the boys.”
No reason not to be after what was a final effort that nearly knocked Shattuck-St. Mary’s from their appointed stride to yet another Circle K banner — their second in as many years and all-time tourney-best sixth.
The only difference on the scoreboard was Gavin Katz’s top-shelf goal midway through the game beating CIHA goaltender, Cole Prelusky.
The 16-year-old backstop was otherwise outstanding, as was the entire side in helping Calgarians take notice of the program on the big stage of the world-renowned under-18 AAA hockey tournament.
“I think a lot of people probably didn’t know about our academy until maybe they saw we were playing, and they say, ‘CIHA? Oh it’s a local team,’” Soloski said. “And I think it’s a great wake-up call for everyone around our city that we are a good academy. And it’s cool … it’s definitely cool to see the hockey world be able to appreciate us.”
Even moreso given the road to get to Wednesday’s pinnacle game.
CIHA actually got dusted hard by Shattuck-St. Mary’s in its first round-robin game last Friday, losing 9-3 in what described as a closer-than-the-score-made-it-look contest.
Nevertheless, the defeat meant Soloski & Co. had to win out to make the championship game. And they gutted it out with round-robin victories over the Sherwood Park Kings — 5-2 — and the Valley West Giants — 4-2 — followed by a trio of playoff triumphs — 2-1 in overtime over New York’s Bishop Kearney Selects in the Round of 16, 3-2 in a shoot-out over the Airdrie CFR Bisons in the quarterfinal, and 5-1 over B.C.’s Burnaby Winter Club in the semifinal.
“We knew we were a good team, but we had a little bit of a slow start,” Soloski said. “I think that’s why many people thought we were the 32nd-ranked team (of 32 teams) here.
“But honestly, we thought of ourselves as a team that could compete for the tournament. And we did — we showed it, and we proved it. And it just sucks tha we couldn’t quite finish it off.
“Obviously it’s tough now, but we just have to learn from it and keep pushing,” added Kelly. “It’s just a big step towards our end-goal of winning the championship (in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League). We can’t slow down at all.”
‘Whole new group winning this’ for Shattuck-St. Mary’s
Shattuck-St. Mary’s went unbeaten to reach the finale, scoring three no-doubt wins in the round robin, including that 9-3 torch of CIHA.
Then came Monday’s Round-of-16 victory — 7-1 — over B.C.’s Cariboo Cougars, Tuesday’s quarterfinal win — 6-1 — over the Phoenix Jr Coyotes and Tuesday’s semi triumph — 7-3 — over Devon’s Northern Alberta Xtreme.
And, of course, the finale.
“This is a whole new group winning this,” said Shattuck-St. Mary’s head coach Tom Ward, when asked what it meant to defend The Circle K championship. “Some of these kids have never won anything, and they’ve been in our program a long time. And now winning something, that’s a thing.”
Only forward Nolan Caffey, defenceman Dylan LeBret and goalie Jackson Silverberg were part of last year’s title take at this event. And Silverberg was front and centre — and praised by his coach — in earning the 24-save shutout Wednesday night in helping Shattuck-St. Mary’s raise the coveted championship cup.
“We’ve been lucky,” Ward said. “We’ve had some kids at our program that have been able to grasp onto our winning tradition and continue that, and that’s something that we like to have as a foundation of our program.
“We want to teach the kids how to play together and make decisions that are for better of the team. It’s nobody cares who scores and nobody cares who makes the saves.
“And (Wednesday), it was don’t crack. Just keep playing. Don’t crack. Don’t crack. Don’t crack. Just stick with the process here.”
Try as they might, CIHA just couldn’t do that, despite a push from the partisan crowd and big praise from Ward post-game.
“They got some good players,” added Ward of the silver medallists. “They’ve got some defencemen who can really handle the puck. That (Kelly’s) really got a great future — he’s a smart player, and he can play the game. And I thought their kid played really good in net. Like they’ve got some good guys.
“Yeah … they got a good outfit.”
What else happened on Wednesday’s final day?
• B.C.’s OHA Penticton earned a 5-2 victory in the B-side championship over the St. Louis AAA Blues. Jackson Roberts had two goals, including the second-period game-winner, for the Okanagan side.
• B.C.’s Valley West Giants got the winning goal from Ryder Marks at the 4:26 mark of overtime to lift them to the C-side championship over Edmonton Jr Oilers Orange. The Giants out-shot the Edmonton side 49-31 in the finale.
Stars ’n’ such …
• Maddox Schultz was named the tourney MVP after his spectacular performance for the Regina Pat Canadians, who lost in the event’s A-side quarterfinal Tuesday. The 14-year-old phenom from Regina had 13 points in the tourney, including a six-point effort in the quarters, in which he tied the game with his third of the contest with a half-second left in regulation and then won it with fourth of the outing on an end-to-end beauty. Schultz follows Edge School’s Landon Dupont, then 14 in 2023-24, and Southern Alberta Hockey Academy’s Gavin McKenna, then 15 in 2022-23, in earning the MVP honour.
• The tourney’s playoff MVP was Shattuck-St. Mary’s captain Graham Jones, of Winnipeg. He recorded a goal and seven assists in the four playoff affairs and was named the victorious team’s player of the game in the finale.
• Schultz was also named a first-team tourney all-star. He joins fellow forwards Alex Donovan and Gavin Katz, both of Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Pat Canadians teammate and defenceman Eli Johnson, Shattuck blueliner Kyle Heger and CIHA goalie Prelusky, who was named his team’s player of the game in the championship loss.
• The Circle K’s second all-star squad is Cariboo goalie Jaxon Dikur, Valley West’s Jared Miskiw and NAX’s Liam Eisnor on the blue-line and Pittsburgh Pens Elite forward Mark Evans, Pat Canadians’ Jonah Sivertson and RINK Kelowna’s Dominik Silbernagel at forward.
• The top goalie is CIHA’s Prelusky, the defenceman is Regina’s Johnson, the most sportsmanlike player is Shattuck’s Gavin Katz, the top coach is Shattuck’s Ward, and the most sportsmanlike team is the South Dakota’s Sioux Falls POWER.
• Five tourney players were award scholarships for their volunteer activities and inclusion efforts in their respective communities. Three $3,000 grants sponsored by Peters’ Drive-In were gifted to Halifax MacDonalds defenceman Connor Foston, Edmonton Jr Oilers Blue blueliner Mason Renaud and Moose Jaw Warriors goalie Luke McKechnie. And two $3,000 courtesy of the Circle K committee were awarded to Edge School goalie Riley Budd and Boston Hockey Academy defenceman Jayden Evans.
http://www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM