Bantam AA squads faced Swedish all-stars

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This article was published 05/01/2018 (3042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A squad of Swedish bantam barnstormers are in town this week.

The U15 team from Tullinge, Sweden (a suburb of Stockholm), spent a couple days as guests of billet families in northeast Winnipeg, playing exhibition games against the Winnipeg East Railcats and the River East Marauders AA teams.

“It’s very exciting,” Wade Carrier, president of the Railcats hockey club, said of the Jan. 2 game at East End Arena (517 Pandora Ave. E). “Not only is it a highlight for our kids, but also a way to extend community spirit to our guests.”

After a pre-game exchange of gifts, both sides came out of the gates with speed, playing a fast, 200-foot game. The first period ended with the teams tied at one, but Tullinge began to pull away in the second, finishing the middle frame with a 4-2 lead.

“They’re a good team, very skilled,” said Darren Chambers, coach of the Railcats. “For us, it was a good challenge. To play a European team with a different skill level, for them it’s an experience in itself. You don’t often get that opportunity.”

The Railcats, who were in second place in the city as of press time, also played a fast, skilled game.

“We transition well and are able to move puck well through neutral zone, that’s us in a nutshell,” Chambers said.

Tullinge eventually won the exciting, fast-paced match 7-4, which over 100 people turned out to watch.

“They’re highly skilled, tough on the puck, and positionally they’re incredible,” Chambers said of the Swedish squad. “We play northern States in tournaments and stuff but they play a similar style of game that we do. We’ve never seen this skill level, this high tempo of a game.”

On Jan. 3, the Marauders hosted Tullinge before a large crowd at Gateway Rec Centre (1717 Gateway Rd.).

“It was definitely one of our biggest challenges,” said Kaelan Oddy, a 14-year-old defenceman and team captain of the Marauders.

However, the Swedes got the best of the Marauders 4-2 in a tight game, scoring a goal late in the game to seal the deal.

“We both had our chances,” said Vince Hourie, head coach of the Marauders. “A bounce here, a bounce there, and it could have gone either way.”

According to Hourie, the Marauders are a hardworking, tenacious team. The defending bantam AA city champs are currently in third place, three points back of the Railcats, who have a game in hand.

Both Hourie and Oddy agreed that the European game was faster and more focused on passing and play away from the puck than the North American game.

“They are a very skilled individually,” Hourie said. “You can tell they’ve been playing together a long time, they read off each other very well.”

“The teams here usually have a couple really good players and the rest are decent,” said Oddy, who scored the Marauders first goal. “The Swedish team, they were all really good.”

“It was just a fantastic experience for the community,” Hourie said, adding that he felt it was a great chance for the kids to connect with their peers from another culture.

“Before our game we went to the outdoor rink at North Kildonan Community Centre and played some shinny with them,” Oddy said. “But it didn’t last long, because it was so cold.

The Swedish team also played exhibition games against the bantam AA Lord Selkirk Rebels and St. Vital Victorias, and are taking part in the Jets AA Challenge Cup Jan. 4 through 7 at the IcePlex.

Tullinge head coach Niklas Pers said they knew Winnipeg was a hockey town, and had a family connection through one of the players on their team. For them, it was an opportunity to experience North American competition first hand.

“It is harder for them (here) because the rink is smaller here than at home,” Pers said.  In North America, the standard rink size is 200-by-85 feet, while Europe uses the “Olympic size” 200-by-100 foot rinks. “Here, there is more hooking and holding, but otherwise it is the same.”

Björn Volkmann, one of the parents who made the trip with the Swedish team, said they enjoyed the hospitality that Winnipeggers showed the team.

“The people are very friendly, very helpful, even nicer than we thought,” he said. “It has been great.”

“We knew it was a winter city, not this cold,” Fredrik Ohlsson, Tullinge’s team manager and parent of one of the players, added with a laugh.

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