2008-09 Team News
Dec. 1--The Winning Streak Charters Bantam Queens won the gold medal in the U-14A division at the Cake Eaters Classic Hockey Tournament held in Edina, Minn., Nov. 28-30.
This tournament featured many of the top ranked U-14A girls teams in Minnesota, which is the highest level of
girls hockey for the 13-14 age group outside of high school hockey.
In round robin play Friday night the Queens defeated unranked Andover 15-0.
Round robin play coninued Saturday morning with the Queens defeating number 3 ranked Centennial 7-1.
Saturday afternoon the Queens bounced number 1 ranked Edina 10-0, which saw former NHLer Brian Bellows behind the bench for Edina.
On Sunday the Queens knocked off #7 White Bear Lake 7-1 to claim first place in their division.
In the championship game Sunday night the Queens played #8 ranked Chaska/Chanhassen, who also finished first in their division after going undefeated in round robin play.
Thunder Bay got three goals from Natasha Nicholl and two from Michela Cava as well as a shutout from Megan Leikkari to win the title game 5-0.
The Queens will put their undefeated tournament streak on the line again when they face more top-ranked Minnesota teams in Duluth Jan. 9-11 when they compete in the St. Lukes Icebreaker Cup Hockey Tournament.
Nov. 26--The Winning Streak Charters Bantam Queens travel to Edina, Minn., this weekend to participate in the 4th Annual Cake Eaters Classic tournament, which will feature the top four ranked under-14 girls teams in the state of Minnesota, three of which the Queens will face in round robin competition.
Friday evening the Queens face the Andover Huskies at 6:15pm at Minnesota Made Arena.
Saturday morning the Queens face #3 ranked Centennial and face #1 ranked Edina later that night.
Sunday afternoon the Queens finish the round robin portion of the tournament with a game against #4 ranked White Bear Lake.
Sunday night will feature the championship and consolation games at 7 and 7:15 p.m. featuring the top two teams from each five team division.
The Bantam Queens are currently 20-3-1 on the season and are 9-0 in out of town games.
Nov. 18--For a third consecutive year the Thunder Bay Winning Streak Charters Bantam AA Queens are champions in their division of the Ice Breaker Cup tournament in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
The Queens went undefeated at the IBC in five games scoring outscoring their opponents by a 25-2 margin.
After defeating the host Soo Wildcats 4-0 in their opener Friday, the Queens then disposed of the Hearst Ice Cats 4-2 and
the Sudbury Lady Wolves 4-0 on Saturday.
In a rematch vs. Hearst in the semi-final game on Sunday the Queens skated to a 6-0 victory advancing to the gold medal final against the host Wildcats.
There Thunder Bay jumped out to a 5-0 first period lead and never looked back coasting to a 7-0 win to secure the gold medal.
Goaltender Emily Ongaro posted three shutouts during the tournament.
The Bantam AA Queens next tourney sees them head off to Edina, Minn., Nov. 28-30 to participate in the Cake Eaters Classic.
Oct. 6--The Winning Streak Charters Bantam AA Queens hockey team completed their first road trip of the season travelling to Manitoba where they skated away with four wins in as many exhibition games.
In the opener Friday night the Queens defeated defending Winnipeg league champion Winnipeg Titans 6-4. Michela Cava and Kaitlyn Tougas both had three-point games to lead the team offensively.
They would roll to two more victories on Saturday as the Queens rode a seven-point performance by Tougas to beat the Pembina Trail Twins 11-1. They would then travel to Selkirk, Man., where the defeated the Fishermen 6-1.
The Queens then returned to Winnipeg where they capped their road trip with a 9-2 decision over the Assiniboine Park Rangers, featuring a four-point performance by Cava.
The Bantam AA Queens next road trip sees them heading to Sault Ste Marie, Ont., Nov. 13-16 to compete in the Ice Breaker Cup, in which they are the defending champions.
Oct. 2--The Winning Streak Charters Bantam AA Queens hit the road for the first time this year as they head to Manitoba this weekend to play four exhibition games.
On Friday they start their four-game set with a contest against the Winnipeg Titans in a 60-minute tilt starting at 7:50 p.m. at Allard Arena.
Saturday sees the squad play twice. First they'll take on the Pembina Trail Twins in another full-game starting at 10:30 a.m. at Keith Bodley Arena. In the second match of the day they will travel to Selkirk, Man. to play the Fishermen in a 6:45 p.m. start at the Selkirk Rec Centre.
The series winds up on Sunday with a match-up vs. the Assiniboine Park Rangers at 10 a.m. at the Winnipeg Winter
Club.
Of note, the Rangers have Queens alumni Dana Hoogsteen on their coaching staff.
The games will be the first test of the year for the Queens against female players of the same age group.
Looking forward to a successful and challenging season ahead the 2008-09 edition of the Winning Streak Charters Bantam AA Queens feature a number of returning players as well as crop of talented newcomers.
Among that group are seven returnees who are back from from last year's sqaud.
Leading the charge as the returning forwards are Michela Cava, Kaitlyn Tougas and Lizzi Vanderwey while Haleigh Croves, Brianna Iazzolino and Alyssa Westerback are also back to anchor the defence and Megan Leikkari will be in goal for her second campaign.
Joining Leikkari in net is goaltender Emily Ongaro who makes the jump from the Queens Bantam A team as do forwards Riley Cronk and Carly Vis.
Moving over from Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association bantam boys hockey are Micheala Coulter (Westfort Bantam A), who plays defence along with forwards Jacie Indian (South End Bantam A) and Jessie Kitt (North End Bantam B).
A total of four first-year bantam players also cracked the roster for 2008-09.
They include Cassandra Curtis (Forward) and Brittany Pennock, (Defence) who both skated for the Peewee AA Queens last season.
Joining them from Lakehead South Minor Hockey Association boys hockey are Natasha Nicholl (Forward) and Taylor Fortier (Defence) who played for the Fort William Hurricances and Neebing Hawks 12AA sides respectively.
The team will be guided behind the bench by new head coach Joey Tougas, who served as an assistant last year.
He will be assisted by George Cava, Peter Cava and goaltender coach David MacKenzie while Larissa Lapointe joins the team as trainer and Rob Croves will act as manager this year to round out the coaching staff.
