2023 WRBHA PROVINCIALS MEN'S PREVIEW
24 men's teams are split across four tiers for this year's WRBHA Provincial Championships.
*regular season record in brackets
TIER 1
BLUE STEEL SLCGY-1/2 (12-5-1 25pts) - Led by the CGY Superleagues division 1/2 number two scorer, Alex Pronchuk, the Blue Steel are making their inaugural appearance at the WRBHA Provincials. The team finished 2nd in the regular season behind the Phantoms.
PHANTOMS SLCGY-1/2 (16-2-0 32pts) - The Phantoms are no strangers to the Provincial Championships, having won Tier 1 Gold four times previously ('07,'08,'11,'16). It's been a few years since they've sat atop Tier 1, but they are hoping a strong 2023 season will lead them back to gold.
PITBULLS SLCGY-1/2 (10-7-1 21pts) - While the Pitbulls finished with the lowest regular season record of the three Calgary teams at this year's provincials, they can boast of having the leagues top scorer. Sean Montgomery's 24 goals were 9 more than the next closest player. Montgomery also recorded a league-leading 42 points. The Pitbulls are former Tier 1 Gold medal winners...but that was more than a decade ago ('12).
SAVAGES BHE-1/2 (19-3-0 38pts) - The Savages are the most decorated team in Alberta ball hockey history. They've won 5 Tier 1 Provincial Championships...including the last two ('13,'14,'15,'19,'22) as well as two 'A' National Championships ('18,'17). They seemingly slept-walked their way to the BHE Division 1 title this year as well, losing just three times over the course of the entire season.
TEAM PENDING BHE-1/2 (17-7-0 34pts) - Team Pending brings a dangerous team, capable of making some noise in such a quick tournament. Of note, of the three losses the Savages were handed, two of them came thanks to Team Pending.
TIER 2
FULL METAL JACKET SLCGY-1/2 (6-9-3 15pts) - Playing out of the CGY Superleagues division 1/2, the Full Metal Jacket had a bit of an up-and-down season. They managed just 15 points in an 18-game schedule, put had some impressive showings along the way including a 7-2 drubbing of the Tier 1 Pitbulls, as well as keeping the Phantoms close in a respectable 3-2 loss. The team hopes to improve on last year's Provincial tournament, where they went 0-4 while scoring just 6 goals.
KILLER BEES BHE-1/2 (12-7-2-2 28pts) - Fresh off a B National's Bronze medal, the Killer Bees have a kick turnaround as they look to defend their '22 Tier 2 Provincial Gold. In fact, the Bees have won gold at the previous two tournaments, as they also captured gold in 2019 at the Tier 3 level.
KNOWLTON GNASHERS BHE-1/2 (8-12-1-1) - The Gnashers are one of just two teams to have knocked off argueably the top team in the province thanks to a 6-5 victory over the Savages to open the 2023 regular season. A previous gold medal winning club (Tier 4 - 2019) the Gnashers are a scrappy team that can find ways to win.
OUTLAWS MH (na) - The team from Medicine Hat is a bit of an unknown heading into this weekends tournament. However, 10 of the 16 players on the roster were also on the roster of last year's Medicine Hat Rebels...who, after losing their opening game of the tournament, ran the table to capture Tier 3 gold. One of the wins was an 8-5 victory over the Knowlton Gnashers.
TIER 3
BALL HOGZ SHPARK (na) - The Ball Hogz came into last year's provincials as a bit of an unknown, and proceeded to go 3-0 in the Tier 3 round-robin. The would lose in the first round of the playoffs 8-5 to the eventual gold-medal-winning Medicine Hat Rebels, but it was a strong first impression
BLAZERS SLCGY-3 (11-6-1 23pts) - Despite going 2-1 in the round-robin last year, the Blazers failed to make the playoffs (probably due to goal differential). However, in the previous Provincial Championships, the team made it all the way to the Tier 3 Gold-medal Championship before eventually bowing out versus the EDM Killer Bees. With lots of recent Provincial experience, the team is poised to make a run.
BLACKOUTS BHE-4 (6-15-0-2 14pts) - The Blackouts most recent Provincials experience came back in 2019 where they finished up the round-robin with a 1-2 record. The regular season was a bit of a struggle, as they limped to a just 6 wins and 14 points. They kicked their playoff bid off with an impressive 5-3 win over the Didsbury Dairy Farmers. But ultimately fell 2 games to 1 to the eventual division 4 champs.
CROATIA BULLDOGS SLCGY-1/2 (1-16-1 3pts) - While the regular season record leaves a lot to be desired, the fact the Croatia Bulldogs played in the division 1/2 of the Calgary Superleagues, needs to be taken into account. Hopefully they can find a way to add win number two this weekend.
DESI HIT SQUAD SLCGY-3 (13-4-1 27pts) - The Desi Hit Squad took the division 3 regular season title with an impressive 27pts in just 18 games. Led by Mahmoud Mahfouz's 11 goals and 20 points the team had the 3rd highest goals for output and the 2nd best goals against average in the division. They did eventually fall to the Blazers in the playoffs. This is the Hit Squad's first provincial appearance.
DIRT SNAKES SLCGY-3 (9-6-3 21pts) - A quick look at the regular season schedule shows that the Dirt Snakes, who finished middle of the pack in CGY Superleagues division 3 this season, went exactly .500 (6-6-1) versus the other three division 3 calgary teams who are also attending Tier 3 Provincials.
REDLINE BHE-5/6 (12-9-1-1 26pts) - While being no strangers to the WRBHA Provincial Championships (Tier 2 Gold '17, Tier 4 Gold '14), Redline had been off the circuit for a few years prior to returning this season. A solid regular season record was followed by dropping a hard fought first-round series to The Edge. The team was led by Adam Dziarmaga and Justin Waldner who combined for 44 goals and 67 points in the regular season.
RINK RATS SLCGY-3 (8-10-0 16pts) - They were the lowest finishing team of the four division 3 CGY Superleagues team in this tier, however, the Rink Rats have the most provincial experience of late. In 2019, the Rink Rats fell in the Tier 3 semi-finals to the Knowlton Gnashers, who would go on to win gold.
TIER 4
BALLS BHE-11 (16-5-2-1 35 pts) - Coming all the way from BHE's division 11, the Balls are ready to make their Provincial debut. JD Booth put up an impressive 26 goals and 43 points, followed closely by Chris Rose's 20 goals and 39 points to lead the charge for the club.
COBRAS GP (17-1-0 34 pts) - The Cobras tore apart the Grand Prairie ball hockey circuit, piling up 17 wins in 18 games. They are also no strangers to the WRBHA Provincial championships...however, they have been strangers to make the playoffs...having won just one game in 6 recent attempts, the Cobras failed to make the playoffs in each of the previous two tournaments. Hopefully third time lucky.
JACKED RABBITS SLCGY-4 (7-10-1 15pts) - Three teams from CGY Superleagues division 4 have found their way into Tier 4 of this year's Provincial Championships. While Party Bus and the Rude Boys finished 1-2 in the divison, the Jacked Rabbits ended the regular season in 2nd last. The will look to remedy that in their first ever WRBHA Provincial Championship appearance.
PARTY BUS SLCGY-4 (14-4-0 28pts) - Another team stepping onto the Provincial ball hockey floor for the first time, Party Bus took the division 4 regular season title this past spring. Led by Ben Ankerman's impressive division-leading 48 points, the club is looking to keep the party going this weekend.
RUDE BOYS SLCGY-4 (12-4-2 26pts) - The Rude Boys finished up 2nd to Party Bus during the regular season while splitting the season series with them at one win a piece. While Party Bus can boast of the division point leader on their squad, the Rude Boys can counter with top goalscorer, Craig Dodds, who hit the back of the net 23 times over 16 games.
SILVER KINGS BHE-7 (19-5-0 38pts) - The longest running ball hockey club in Alberta, the Silver Kings are back looking for the gold medal that has eluded them all these years. Their two most recent forays into the WRBHA Provincial tourney both ended in the first round of playoffs. They will look to break through that barrier this year.
SOLDIERS BHE-7 (20-4-1 41pts) - Another team that seems to have been around since the beginning of time, the Soldiers, despite a number of outstanding seasons, are also still in search of Provincial Gold. The Soldiers most recently knocked off the Silver Kings in this year's BHE Division 7 finals, adding yet another division championship to their impressive trophy case.
