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Great wins for Hockey Day

Hockey Day in Salmon Arm was a big day for many hockey fans and players, including the Salmon Arm Female Midget Tier 1 hockey team
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On target: Salmon Arm Female Midget Tier 1 player Jenna Lazar goes in alone on the Kelowna goal during the team’s 3-1 win in the league finals Saturday at Shaw Centre.

Hockey Day in Salmon Arm was a big day for many hockey fans and players, including the Salmon Arm Female Midget Tier 1 hockey team.

During the second intermission at the SilverBacks game on Saturday, the team was presented with the banner for being league champions for the 2013/14 season.

Salmon Arm will be hosting the provincial championship on March 16 to 20 where the team, consisting of girls from Sicamous, Salmon Arm, Enderby, Armstrong, Vernon and Lumby, will represent the Okanagan region.

Hockey Day in Salmon Arm featured many games, including the league final for the Female Midget team.

With solid goaltending by Jamie Sedore (Salmon Arm) and hard working defence by Hailey Haskell (Salmon Arm) and Chelsea McCaig (Enderby), the team was able to defeat Kelowna 3-1.

Goals were scored by Sydney Castle (Enderby) and a pair by Maddie Turner (Salmon Arm) with assists by Taylor Vandale (Vernon) and Jenna Lazar (Vernon).

SilverBacks

Though their pair of impressive wins over the Penticton Vees came in advance of Super Bowl Sunday, the Salmon Arm SilverBacks drew some inspiration from the Seattle Seahawks and the “Why not us?” slogan in the final month of the regular season.

The Gorillas, icing a lineup minus Evan Anderson, Alex Gillies, Adam Clark and Colton Thibault, still managed wins of 2-1 in Penticton and 4-1 the next night at Shaw Centre. The victories run Salmon Arm’s streak to five and keep them in the thick of the Interior race.

“With our lineup, we had to make the game even simpler,” said SilverBacks head coach Troy Mick. “We said to our guys, ‘Why not us?’ We minimized our mistakes so Penticton wouldn’t be able to capitalize because they’re so talented.

“No one was going to give us credit to win those games, but we ended up doing it.”

On Friday, Bryden Marsh and Landon Smith goals were enough as Angus Redmond kicked out 21 shots in a second-star performance. Salmon Arm had just 15 shots of their own for the game but that win was just the opening act. The following night at Shaw Centre, the SilverBacks capped off Hockey Day in Salmon Arm with a convincing victory.

Despite surrendering the first goal to Cody DePourcq 1:29 into the game, the ’Backs rallied with a Blake Box equalizer and second-period goals from Thomas Plese, Brett Fagerheim and Smith. Redmond made 38 saves and was named first star.

It was the first meeting with Penticton since Vees forward Cam Amantea was suspended for a hit on Evan Anderson. Amantea returned to the lineup Saturday as well but Mick was pleased his team didn’t exact retribution.

“We didn’t use it as motivation; we need to worry about ourselves and we need points,” said Mick. “We didn’t want our guys trying to chase him around the ice.”

The evening also saw a season high for attendance at Shaw Centre at 1,142 and Mick said the players fed off the energy.

“Absolutely, they were awesome,” he said of the SilverBacks fans. “We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Obviously, the team’s had some rough years recently, but we’re excited how the start has been to the (2014-15) season ticket campaign. It’s been busy.”

On the ice, Bryden Marsh was busy in scoring the tying goal Friday and assisting on the equalizer Saturday. The Salmon Arm minor hockey product is locked in and showing top form right now, his coach says.

“I can honestly say that he’s playing the best I’ve ever seen him play,” said Mick. “He’s a big body, he hits everything that moves. He’s not just on our team because he’s a local kid, he’s playing because he contributes.”

That will have to continue as key players continue to nurse various injuries. It will be another total team effort needed as Salmon Arm hosts West Kelowna Tuesday night (past Observer deadline), goes to Penticton again Friday for a 7 p.m. faceoff and then hosts Chilliwack Saturday at 7 p.m.

As of Feb. 4, they were three points back of Vernon and one point up on Merritt.