The Midget Elite Storm won both of their playoff series against the North Central Impact and Sherwood Park Fury leading up to the tournament.

By Jeromy Corrigan

Local Hockey

Midget Elite Storm set to host Provincials

Mar 28, 2019 | 7:06 AM

The best of the best for Midget Elite hockey in Alberta will be in Grande Prairie this week as the Grande Peace Female Athletic Club’s Midget Elite Storm host provincials.

Joining the Storm will be both Calgary Fire clubs, the St.Albert Raiders, and Sherwood Park Fury.

“The two Calgary teams from the south are very skilled,” stated Storm Head Coach Dan Death. “St.Albert is a skilled team and very quick. Sherwood Park we did beat in the playoff round, but all teams are going to be difficult.”

Prior to the playoffs if you had to guess which teams would be joining the Storm at Provincials these four would most likely be the consensus.

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The Calgary clubs finished 1st and 2nd in the South division, while in the North St.Albert was 1st and Sherwood Park was 2nd.

With the competition as tough as it is, Death knows his club will have to do the little things right if they want to have success in the four-day tournament.

“The key things we are looking at is special teams, the powerplay and the penalty kill. Those second and third efforts on every shift are going to be the determining factors in all of these game’s I think.

The Midget Elite Storm will kick off the tournament Thursday morning when they battle the Calgary Fire Red at 11:15 a.m.

All games will be played at the Coca-Cola Centre.

A full schedule of the tournament can be viewed below:

When it comes to planning the tournament, organizers have been burning the midnight oil to make sure all their ducks are in a row before the Championship gets underway.

The club found out they would be hosting Provincials back in December, but with not knowing who would be participating in the tournament until a few weeks ago, it has made for some long days for the organizers.

“It kind of makes it a little tricky. We know we are hosting. We know we are coming, but we have no idea who the other teams are coming,” shared Storm Team Manager Jo-Anne Stewart. “In the last two weeks we have had to put together packages for each team. Clothing. We have had to build a program. We have had to make a schedule of workers. Finding workers to do all the jobs since we have to supply everything for all of the teams coming. So, it has been a push for the last two weeks.”

The opening ceremonies for the tournament will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday following the first two games where the league awards will be handed out and the teams recognized for making it to the Provincial Championships.

Finally, to thank the community for the support this season, the Midget Elite Storm are making a donation to “Jump Start” following the tournament.

“We have a player board which we call a pick and play board which we had. Once all of the squares are pulled then the game is over. That money from the board will be going to Jump Start,” revealed Stewart.

Another fundraiser which the team will be doing during the tournament is a toonie purse and they the team is hoping they can donate some of the money to the 3D Charity Hockey tournament which is taking place in a couple of weeks.