Kings cooked in season finale, prepare for HJHL playoffs
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Tyler Lowey Photo
All of that is important to keep in mind, because if the last two months of the Strathmore Wheatland Kings season carried any weight in the playoffs, the Kings would surely be looking at a first-round exit for the second-straight year.
Granted, they weren’t dealt the easiest three games to conclude the franchise’s ninth season. But perhaps the team can take solace knowing their strongest showing of the weekend came in the final game of a three-game slate.
“Obviously we were looking for better outcomes to go into the playoffs with, but it was a hard stretch of games. We had a bunch of guys not there for the weekend with different injuries and other things,” said Kings alternate captain Cole Busslinger. “By the end of the weekend we only had nine forwards and four defencemen.”
The Kings were blanked by the Southern Division-winning Coaldale Copperheads 2-0 Feb. 11 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
It was the closest contest all weekend, as new netminder Calum Humble pulled off 39 saves. He has now faced more than 40 shots in four out of his seven starts with the Kings.
“Calum has played really well since joining us. Goaltending hasn’t been our issue this year, but Calum is most likely to start on Friday. He has obviously earned the right,” said Kings Assistant Coach Keenan Desmet.
The Kings only snapped 23 shots on net and went 0-for-3 on the power play, as Riese Nevil potted his 10th of the season in the second and Tyler Anderson added a power play marker in the third to put the Kings away.
“I’d say we got back to our strong work ethic in that final game. We had gotten a little lackadaisical at points on the weekend, but we were able to snap out of it on Sunday,” said Busslinger.
That performance came on the heels of an 8-1 drubbing by the same Copperheads (24-10-2) one night earlier at Coaldale Arena.
It was the former Copperhead Austin Holmes who found the back of the net for the Kings. He scored an unassisted tally for his 11th of the season. In two seasons with the Copperheads, he scored 10 goals and seven assists in 39 games.
From there, it was all snakes, as they closed out the first with three goals, chipped in one in the second and piled up another four in the third.
Things weren’t much prettier on the first night of a jam-packed weekend, as the Kings (12-21-3) struggled to maintain any serious puck possession and lost 7-2 to the Cochrane Generals (24-11-1).
The Kings only managed 13 shots to the Generals 42, as Zach Meadows supplied his seventh goal of the season and first goal in 17 games. Later in the third, it was Holmes finding the back of the net from captain Keenan Ogle.
Luckily for the Kings, the Medicine Hat Cubs (12-22-2) weren’t able to gain any ground on the Kings and dropped their pair of games last weekend. The Cubs inability to advance meant the Kings avoided a first-round tilt with the Generals.
If anything, last weekend was the final wakeup call for the Kings as they prepare for their first-round meeting with the High River Flyers (17-21-3). Going up against three elite playoff teams, they know now what will happen if they don’t show up ready to go when the puck drops Feb. 16 at the Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex.
Since it’s a best-of-three series, local fans will only get one chance to see the Kings this round. Game 2 is slated for 8 p.m. Feb. 17 in Strathmore. If necessary, Game 3 would go Feb. 18 back in High River.
“We really like this matchup for us. We are going to have some guys back in our lineup and we are looking forward to getting the playoffs started,” said Desmet. “We feel like if we can get everyone pulling on the same rope and jumping on the same page, we feel like we have a team that could make a bit of noise in the playoffs.”