Several local teams participated in the Joyful Jamboree hockey tournament at the Winthrop Rink.
The team trophies may have headed out of town last weekend, but that didn’t dampen spirits as the Winthrop Rink hosted adult teams of women and coed divisions in the Joyful Jamboree tournament.
The Maidens of Mayhem from Tacoma defeated the Twisted Wristers in a thrilling 3-2 overtime shootout to claim the women’s title game, and Wenatchee defeated Methow Valley Locals 4-3 in the coed division.
The women’s championship was a tight battle all the way through, ending in a 2-2 tie. The Wristers sent Katie Leuthauser, Kristen Kirkby and Annika Mines onto the ice for the shootout, but each of them was turned away by the Mayhem’s goalkeeper, while the Mayhem slipped one of their three attempts into the net for the win.
In the consolation game, Puck Yeah got the best of another Methow Valley entry, Valley Vixens, for the third-place trophy.
In the coed tournament, Wenatchee came back from a 2-1 second-period deficit to win the title match against the home team Locals, 4-3. Locals goals were scored by Ryan Bell, Anna Sand and Jeff MacDonald. The Tacoma Kraken defeated the Omak Attack for third place, 4-2.
In a tournament-closing exhibition match, the Methow’s valley girls mixed it up on the ice in a thrilling 2-2 tie. The Vixens seemed to be in control for most of the game, and led 2-1 as the clock read 0:56.1 left in the third period, a face-off looming in the circle just to the left of the Vixen’s goal. Wristers coach James DeSalvo yelled and gestured for goalie Annika Troyer to come to the bench in favor of the extra skater, getting her attention just in time. A quick flip off the faceoff slid in front of the Vixen net minder and a lightning slap by Anna Mounsey sent the puck into the net at the 50 second mark to ice the tie.
While nothing is really settled in a tie, the post-game hugs and combined photo ops indicated the camaraderie of the players and affection for the game were both at high levels, making for a fun evening for the players and the approximately 200 fans who witnessed the showdown.
Rink manager Steve Bondi was all smiles after the tournament wrapped up. “The weekend was overall a successful highlight of adult hockey and Methow Valley spirit,” reported Bondi, citing the “spectators, camaraderie and community, and great sportsmanship of all eight teams.”
“After two winters of few to no public events,” continued Bondi, “the Jamboree served as an event to bring the Methow Valley community together.” And Bondi said he was impressed by the growth of hockey participation in North Central Washington.
This coming weekend the Winthrop Rink will host the 12-years-and-under Great Outdoors Classic, Friday through Sunday. Winthrop’s Wolverines will open play Friday afternoon with a 1:15 p.m. puck drop versus the Whatcom Warriors. Two other teams from the Spokane area and Seattle Junior association will join in the action.
Friday afternoon and early Saturday (beginning at 8:15 a.m.) feature round-robin play with consolation and championship bracket games set for Saturday afternoon.
