Saskatchewan teams had very respectable showings at the Canadian Juvenile Broomball Championships last weekend, with the Bruno Junior Axemen earning a silver medal on the B-side following a tough 3-2 defeat to Quebec's Chums de Blitz.
The Canadian Juvenile Nationals took place in Portage la Prairie, Man., from March 29-April 2. Ten teams took part, with three representing this province.
The Ontario Gamblers won the A-side gold medal with a 3-2 victory over another Ontario team, the Sting.
The Odessa (Sask.) Bandits took the A-side bronze medal, while the Balgonie Clippers finished with the B-side bronze.
Both Odessa and Balgonie finished with 5-2 records (including playoffs), while Bruno went 2-5. However, Bruno surprised Balgonie 1-0 in the B-side semi-final on April 1, thereby earning a berth in the gold medal game. Cody Thiel scored the lone goal to lead Bruno to the win.
Thiel added a goal and an assist in the gold medal final against Les Chums, and Joe Bassett had a pair of helpers. But that simply wasn't enough as Gabriel Cote's hat trick lifted Les Chums to victory and the gold.
Wade Olchowski also scored for Bruno.
Cody Thiel led all Axemen in scoring with nine points. He scored seven of Bruno's 10 goals in the tournament.
Now it's up to the Bruno Senior Axemen, who are off to Blainville, Que. for the Broomball Senior Nationals.
Senior Nationals take place April 13-17.
