Wolitski stars for St. Albert in Vernon pee wee hockey final

The three consecutive goals scored by St. Albert Raiders Stars defenceman Nolan Wolitski snapped ties in the Amy Myles A Event final Sunday, Feb. 12, of the 50th Vernon Winter Carnival Coca-Cola Classic Pee Wee Hockey Tournament.

None bigger than the last one.

Wolitski’s second straight unassisted goal at 16:46 of the first overtime period gave the Stars a 4-3 win over the Cranbrook Bucks.

It was the second time a team from St. Albert triumphed in the tournament’s championship game. St. Albert defeated Simons Valley of Calgary 8-5 in the 2011 Amy Myle final.

Wolitski snapped a 1-1 tied at 12:40 of the third period with a powerplay goal, and his unassisted effort at 18:16 gave the Stars a 3-2 bulge and a grip on the championship trophy.

Easton Armstrong’s unassisted goal at 19:08 was the equalizer for Cranbrook, setting the stage for Wolitski’s overtime heroics.

Mathias Halabi scored for St. Albert at 5:40 of the first period, and that goal stood until Armstrong tied the game for the Bucks with the man advantage 4:07 into the third period.

Memphis Martin had the other goal for the Bucks.

It was the second time a team from Cranbrook had made it to the A Event final. The first was in 1996, when Cranbrook doubled Semiahmoo of White Rock 6-3 in the title game.

Both teams advanced with Saturday afternoon semifinal wins. St. Albert downed the Leduc Roughnecks 5-2 in an all-Alberta final-four confrontation, while Cranbrook edged the American representatives, the Wenatchee Wild, 3-2 in overtime in the other semi.

Leduc took the Alex Kuly B Event final with a 10-4 romp over Wenatchee. Blake Morrissey, Kale Palmer and Chase Zolinski each scored twice for the Roughnecks.

The Chilliwack Bruins won the Mickey McMahon C Event final, tripping up the Okotoks Oilers from Alberta 3-1. It was the Bruins who relegated the host Vernon Watkin Motors Mustangs to the Mickey Ogasawara D Event final with a 9-1 drubbing of Vernon Saturday morning.

Drew Holek scored twice for the Bruins against the Oilers.

The North Delta Sun Devils avenged an opening tournament game loss to Vernon with a 6-3 win over the Mustangs in the D Event final. Alexander Ekholm scored three times for North Delta, who fell 5-2 to the Mustangs Thursday, Feb. 9.

Aiden Miller scored twice for Vernon, who failed to hit the win column again after the victory Thursday morning, finishing 1-4. Bryden Ezekiel had the other Mustangs’ goal.

Ronin Raymond had the lone Vernon goal against Chilliwack.

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