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West Central Tigers honour graduates, move on to playoffs

The Tigers played two last games at home before playoff begins on Thursday in Lacombe
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Kyle Gerrits intercepts the puck from deep in Selects’ territory.

The West Central Tigers are off to playoffs after the team’s final home games of the regular season.

The Tigers played the Central Alberta Selects on March 1, winning 4-3.

They came back to the NexSource Centre one last time on March 3 to tie with the Bow Valley Timberwolves 3-3.

Moving into the playoff tournament in Lacombe this coming weekend, the Tigers are sitting in first place in the north conference of the South Central Alberta Hockey League.

Before the game began on March 1, the Tigers had a special moment to honour the players “graduating” from the program.

Nine players from Sylvan Lake, Eckville, Sundre, Bentley and Red Deer were honoured before the game by Tigers alumni who gave each player a small award for their time with the program.

The 2005-2006 hockey season was the birth of the graduates minor hockey careers and will be moving on to new endeavours in the years to come.

The Tigers have two players on the leaderboard going into the playoffs for points earned in a season.

Leading the pack is Caileb Berge, who amassed 65 points during the 2018-19 season. Teammate Kayde Budgell came in eighth with a total of 44 points from the season.

The Tigers will be playing in the playoff tournament in Lacombe which starts on March 7.

The West Central Tigers will play the first game of the tournament against the Airdrie Lightning on March 7 with the puck dropping at 10 a.m. at the Gary Moe Sportsplex.

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Sloan Garritty races towards the puck, hoping to beat Selects defencemen, and make another play on net for the Tigers.
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A Tigers player slips up while making his way toward the puck. He ended up swinging his hockey stick out enough to hit the puck away for a teammate to pick up. Photos by Megan Roth/Sylvan Lake News