Kings have winning weekend

Times Editor

 

Despite losing their first game, the Wheatland Kings responded with a winning weekend for the first time in over a month.

After extending their winless streak to six games, the local junior-A team won their next two games, improving their record to 11-13-1-2 on the season and hanging on to a playoff spot heading into the Christmas holiday.

The Kings opened the weekend with a 9-3 road loss in High River on Dec. 16, before rebounding to defeat the Copperheads 6-5 in overtime the following day in Coaldale. The team capped off the weekend by defeating the Banff Bears 4-3 on Dec. 18 at the Strathmore Family Centre.

“It was so nice to get the gorilla off of our back,” said Kings head coach Doug Murphy in regards to the losing streak. “It was really wearing on everybody – you want to always stay positive, but it starts to bring you down. Guys start losing confidence and you end up questioning what you are doing. It kind of perpetuates to a downhill spiral.

“It was nice to break (the cycle).”

The Kings suffered their eighth loss in nine games, when they travelled to High River to open the weekend. Despite supporting a better record than the sixth-place Flyers, the Kings have dropped all the games to their division rival this season.

Parker Georgsen paced the Kings attack with a goal and an assist, while Austin Larsen and Racey Big Snake each scored once. Austin Fisher collected two assists for the Kings, who fell 4-1 early in the game and trailed 7-2 after two periods.

The following day in Coaldale, Georgsen left his mark on the game by scoring the overtime winner. Brandon Neufeld scored twice, while Andrew Bergmann and Sam Lonnberg each record a goal and an assist. Brennan Grasdahl also tallied for the Kings.

According to Murphy, the Kings took the Bears a little lightly in the final game of the weekend. However, they snuck out a 4-3 win.

Despite their previous extended losing streak, the Kings can now focus on the second half of the season and solidifying a playoff spot.

“We’d rather be in third chasing second, but we’ll accept where we are,” said the coach. “The (Christmas) break couldn’t come at a better time. We had more guys go down on the weekend … so this break is exactly what we need right now.”

Wheatland returns to action in the New Year, when they travel to Banff on Jan. 7, before hosting the Airdrie Thunder Jan. 7 (8 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.