The Ice Crushers were unstoppable.
The Crushers, an under-12 team from the Prince George Ringette Association, skated to a championship at last weekend's Spruce Grove Sweetheart Tournament. In the final, they doused the Spruce Grove Fire 8-6.
The victory over the Fire came after an 11-9 loss to that same club during preliminary play.
In their other preliminary games, the Ice Crushers fell 8-6 to the Spruce Grove Rage and beat the St. Albert Extreme 8-6. Their 1-2 record gave them second place in their pool and a spot in the playoff semifinals.
Prior to the semifinal showdown against the Rage, Crusher coaches Dave Cake and Ryan Todd promised to wear pink tutus at the next practice if the team won. With 17 seconds left in the game and the score tied 4-4, Emily Nimmo netted the winner and guaranteed there would be pink in the rink at practice.
The Ice Crushers, sponsored by Ray's Stucco, were led offensively by captains Lilowynn Thompson and Jessa Brewer. Defensively, fellow captain Myia Bruder was a rock, as were Nimmo and Maddy Todd. And, according to coach Cake, goaltender Chase Jamieson gave his best performances of the season.
Other team members include Brooklyn Lank, McKenna Maser, Hallie Miller and Kaelyn Hawkes.
A second Prince George-based team, the U19 Pitbulls, also left Spruce Grove with gold in their luggage. In the championship game, they dominated St. Albert and were rewarded with an 8-2 victory.
The Pitbulls had fallen 9-7 to St. Albert in their first game of the tournament. In that contest, they trailed 6-0 at one point but fought back to make it close. Next, the Pitbulls nipped Spruce Grove 6-5 and downed Calgary 7-3 to get to the final.
The Pitbulls have team members from Prince George and Quesnel.
