One of YellowknifeSA国际影视传媒檚 newest hockey teams hit the road earlier this month for its first tournament.

And they didnSA国际影视传媒檛 embarrass themselves in the slightest.

The Summit Air Spitfires U13 girls squad travelled to Calgary for the Wickenheiser Female World Hockey Festival, better known as Wickfest, which wrapped up on Dec. 3. The Spitfires won all their games right up to the final, but werenSA国际影视传媒檛 able to emerge with the title as they ended up dropping a 4-1 decision to the Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs from Alberta.

Even with the loss in the final, head coach Ryan Nichols said he couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 have been prouder of the way his players comported themselves.

SA国际影视传媒淲e played five games in about 28 hours and we just ran out of steam in the final,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲e lost to a team that was bigger than us, but it was an impressive showing. In my opinion, our girls deserved to win it because they played so well.SA国际影视传媒�

The Spitfires started the round-robin with a 7-1 win over the Clavet Cougars from Saskatchewan in their opening game. From there, goaltender Hayden Wray was the star of the show as she shut the door SA国际影视传媒� literally SA国际影视传媒� for the next three games. She posted back-to-back-to-back clean sheets with shutout wins over the North West District U13 out of Edmonton (3-0), the GHC Jr. Inferno Scorch of Calgary (3-0) and the first meeting against the Chiefs (1-0).

Nichols said it could have easily been four goose-eggs in a row for Wray.

SA国际影视传媒淭he only goal she gave up was on a deflection off a skate,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淥ur goaltending and defence was really strong and we got the offence at the right time.SA国际影视传媒�

Being that this was the first tournament ever for the Spitfires, there were questions about whether they were playing in the right tier.

Never mind the fact that a good chunk of the team was well under the upper age limit of 13, Nichols acknowledged.

SA国际影视传媒淲e took eight 10-year-olds,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淵ou never know where you should be (competitively) when you enter because we play mostly male teams up here. Our girls showed up right out of the gate and we showed we could hang with those other teams.SA国际影视传媒�

The Spitfires have two more tournaments this season; the next one is coming up in Cochrane, Alta., at the end of January.

Nichols said the organizers there were good enough to wait until the completion of Wickfest to properly tier the girls in the right division.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think weSA国际影视传媒檒l do well in the best two tournaments coming up,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檒l work in practice and hopefully come out on the right side in Cochrane.SA国际影视传媒�