Local Sylvan Lake hockey products Juliana Gulayets and Kadey Rosie won an Alberta Female Hockey League Provincial title in Sherwood Park this past weekend with their Red Deer Midget Elite Sutterfund Chiefs team.
The club went undefeated through round-robin play and dispatched the Peace Country Storm 4-1 in the final to take the Championship.
After finishing in first place in the AFHL South division with 23 wins and just three losses the Chiefs were poised to do well, but in a short weekend tournament anything can happen.
A tentative start against the Calgary Fire Red saw the team gain a 2-2 tie to open the weekend, but they took off from there winning 3-1 against the Edmonton Pandas, 3-0 versus Peace Country and 4-0 against host club Sherwood Park Fury to lock up first place going into Sunday’s Gold Medal game.
Gulayets had a stellar final scoring twice and taking game MVP honours while Rosie was a key defensive player on a team that surrendered just four goals over five games.
The pair have shared their entire hockey career starting out as youngsters in the Sylvan Lake female hockey program, then the West Central Wildcats before graduating to play in Red Deer with the Chiefs program for the past two seasons.
While the two represented Zone 4 with the Parkland team at Alberta Games last year, this season was a unique and special year for these Midget rookies capped with the ultimate title in a minor hockey player’s career.
The Chiefs’ team is made up of players from all over Central Alberta as Hockey Alberta unfolded their new female development model this season.
Girls from Ponoka, Sylvan Lake, Rimbey, Gadsby, Innisfail and of course Red Deer came together to form a powerhouse team led by veteran coach Brad Koopmans.