By Stephanie Froese

Prince Albert takes provincial title

Mar 14, 2011 | 6:35 AM

The Prince Albert Venice House Pirates are getting ready for some pretty tough competition.

The team will be representing Saskatchewan at the Western Canadian Bantam Championships.

The honour comes after the Pirates won the Bantam AA Provincial Championship title.

The team played the Saskatoon Maniacs in the final game this weekend in Saskatoon.

Shawn Phaneuf, head coach called the game a battle.

GST Holiday

Federal government's two-month GST holiday begins

9h ago

Imminent need

Council set to discuss possible location for homeless shelter on 15th Street

14h ago

International Spotlight

P.A.'s Howe one of 4 Sask. born players named to Canada's World Junior roster

Dec 13, 2024

“The game was back and forth, we got a little sloppy at times and lost our composure in the middle frame there a bit but we battled hard,” Phaneuf said.

The Pirates started out the game with a 2-0 lead and in the end outscored the maniacs to a 5-4 win.

“We had a great effort from Keegan Kjargaard. He scored a hat trick in the third period and gave us a victory.”

Now, Phaneuf said, the team will put its focus on tightening up their systems and their defense. He said they need to keep up the intensity for the Western Canadian Championship where they will face teams from major centers like Edmonton and Calgary.

“We’re going to be playing some pretty high skilled teams and they’re going to be pretty intense,” Phanuef said.

“Triple A teams that have hundreds of kids try out and were getting 40, 45 kids trying out for a team and were matching up against teams with hundreds of kids from all over the place.”

The coach called the opportunity to represent Saskatchewan “an honour” and said his players are all pretty excited.

“It’s a pretty big staged, huge event. It’s something you strive for. It’s an honour to get there.”

The Western Canadian Bantam Championships are in Winnipeg Apr. 7-10

sfroese@panow.com