(Courtesy Justin Horne)
Sharks’ Goaltender Hayse Horne, 8, earned a silver medal and MVP award for her team despite a 6-2 loss to the undefeated Penguins at the Ligne H-Plus AAA Tourney in Quebec City on the weekend.
The event was a U8 elite co-ed tournament where the best kids participated in a three-day competition.
She received both awards shortly after the finals concluded, where coaches voted her as the team’s MVP.
“I’d like to say I was surprised when she won MVP but I wasn’t,” said Justin Horne, Hayse’s father. “She’s a really good player and one of the best players on her team.”
“A lot of my teammates were sad when we lost,” said Hayse. “I was happy because I got a medal.”
The Penguins dominated the first two periods. William Moreau opened the scoring late as the period’s lone goal.
Justin Harding and James Skoczlays scored in the second period to extend the lead to 3-0 heading into the third.
“We had the puck for only 45 seconds in the first two periods,” said Justin. “She got peppered a lot.”
Harding scored 15 seconds into the third period to give the Penguins a 4-0 lead until the Sharks’ offence finally woke up with a goal from Alex Sanesac.
Skoczlays and Harding scored a goal apiece again in the third to make it 5-1.
Emile Dupont scored for the Sharks to make it 6-2 but it was not enough to mount the comeback.
“I thought she did really great and she did the best she could,” said Justin. “One kid had five breakaways on her in that game.”
Justin says the transition to playing a different position for most of these kids made Hayse’s job a little harder.
“These kids aren’t usually defenceman and the coaches had to convert forwards,” he said. “The kids were trying to go coast-to-coast from one end to the other a lot with the puck, which left Hayse all alone.”
Despite being under siege all weekend, Hayse enjoys being a goaltender and wants to continue being one, as she gets older.
“I like being goalie because I get to rob somebody,” said Hayse. “It’s really fun to stop the other team.”
“She keeps her composure very well and she’s very competitive,” said Justin. “When we won in the semi-finals, all the parents came up to me and said that my daughter won that game.”
In addition to hockey, Hayse also plays baseball, soccer, kickboxing and gymnastics. Her and Tayten Nolan of the Blackhawks were the only players from Kahnawake in the tournament.
The Sharks had a 3-3 record overall, which gave them the third seed in the playoffs.
The following is a recap of the Sharks tournament:
Friday, January 3
10-2 win vs. Golden Knights
6-2 win vs. Predators
Saturday, January 4
6-4 loss to Capitals
5-3 loss to Maple Leafs
Sunday, January 5 (playoffs)
4-2 win vs. Blackhawks
6-2 loss to Penguins
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