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Langley Talons soar to atom Cup title

Hansen snaps tie with 60 seconds to go to send Talons to victory in Langley Atom Cup final
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The Langley Talons celebrated after winning the Langley Atom Cup at the George Preston Recreation Centre on April 1.

With 60 seconds remaining in regulation time and the score tied at four, Liam Hansen turned to his go-to-move.

Streaking in on the goaltender, Hansen faked fore-hand and went to the back-hand, slipping the puck into the net for what turned out to be the winning goal.

Teammate A.J. Austin added an empty-net goal — his second of the game — and the Langley (LY8) Talons defeated the Langley (LY4) King Cobras 6-4 in the Langley Atom Cup championship game on Sunday morning at the George Preston Recreation Centre.

“I did (that move) yesterday, too,” Hansen said following the game.

“It is amazing to win the Cup, the best feeling of my life,” he added, saying it was the biggest goal he had ever scored.

Of course, he is just 10 years old with plenty of hockey ahead of him.

Hansen also finished with three assists.

Gary AHUJA/Langley Times

Langley Talons’ Liam Hansen (left) celebrates Tiger Williams-style with teammate Kevin Wade after scoring with one minute left to give his team a 5-4 lead in the finals of the Langley Atom Cup on Sunday at the George Preston Recreation Centre. Hansen had a goal and three assists as the Talons beat the King Cobras 6-4.

Mitchell Macleod and Matthew Kaita, with a pair, helped the Talons to a 4-2 first period lead.

Liam McNeil and Patrick Hrkac scored for the King Cobras in the opening frame and then Cole Svendson struck for a pair in the middle period.

The Talons were seeded third for the eight-team week-long Cup tournament.

 

They won their opener, 6-0 over LY5, and then needed overtime to win 2-1 over LY6. With a spot in the final on the line, the Talons edged the King Cobras 2-1 to move on.

The tournament is a double knockout format, and the King Cobras took advantage of their second chance, beating LY3 for another shot at the Talons.

“Heart, it is all about heart,” said Talons coach Andrew Russell.

“They are a hard-working bunch who never gives up.”

“This means tons,” he added.

“It was our goal to win from day one, we wanted to win the Langley Cup.

“We underestimated what it was worth to the kids last year.”

What makes the victory even more impressive was that the Talons lost one of their top players in the second game. But Russell said the rest of the team just stepped up.

The Cup win caps off a great season for the team as it was their third tournament victory, while also finishing twice once and third another time.

The Talons also won the PCAHA Fraser Valley West banner and were tied for the atom division banner in points.

The atom Talons consist of: Matthew Kaita, Kyson Burgart, Gene You, Mitchell Macleod, Kale Kasdorf, Gavin Ma, Spencer Carmichael, Austin Russell, Jakob Wilkins, Logan Ballendine, Liam Hansen, Colten Kenney, Aiden Foxcroft, Luc Renaud, Kevin Wade, AJ Austin, Campbell Jennejohn and Bryan Keffer.

Coaches are Andrew Russell, Dan Renaud, Jim Kenney and Derek Jennejohn.