Can’t crown the top teams

Times Editor  

 

Despite having a solid season and being one of the highest scoring teams in the league, the Wheatland Kings are having a tough time cracking the top teams in the Heritage Junior B Hockey League.

The high-octane Kings have had their way with the weaker sisters of the league, but have yet to beat some of the top teams like Medicine Hat, Okotoks, Coaldale, Blackflads, and most recently Three Hills.

Even though they have matched each squad stride-for-stride, Wheatland has yet to register two points against an upper-echelon team.

According to Kings assistant coach Derek Schlamp the answer is simple – they have yet to claim two points because they have yet to play a full 60 minutes of Kings hockey.

“We know how well we can play, (but we need to) play 60 minutes of consistent hockey,” said Schlamp. “We as a coaching staff can tell them what to do and everything, but they need to show up and play night in, night out. They have to feed off of their linemates, gain some chemistry and come together as a team.

“We have to play a better all-round game. We can’t put ourselves in the situations we do – like in our own end we need to put that extra effort in. We seem to fall behind early in the first period and it takes so much work to get ourselves back in the game.”

That was the case this past weekend, as the Kings gave up the first goal in each game before eventually coming back to take the lead.

The Kings started the weekend with a trip to Stettler to face the Lightning on Oct. 26. Wheatland allowed the first goal and trailed 5-1, before dominating the final two periods to earn a 7-6 win.

“We got down 5-1 and we just stayed positive – you have to stay positive and believe in yourselves,” said Schlamp. “We didn’t get negative on the bench, we just picked each other up from that first period and chipped away at the lead.”

Andrew Bergmann lead the way for the Kings, scoring four goals and adding an assist, while Ross Fox had a goal and three helpers. Sam Lonnberg and Sam McKinnon each had a goal and an assist, while Evan Elaschuk and Arron Elaschuk each recorded two assists.

The following day on home ice, the Kings fell behind early before scoring three unanswered goals to take a two-goal lead. However, the Thunder responded with four unanswered goals of their own, eventually winning the game 5-4.

“We didn’t bring 60 minutes to the table today,” said Schlamp after the loss. “Right from the get-go, I don’t know what it was, but we weren’t ready to play tonight. Three Hills is always a team ready to work hard and bring it every game. We took a period and a half off and it cost us.”

Bergmann continued his point streak by registering three assists in the loss, while Rylan Muenchrath and Brennan Grasdahl each chipped in with a goal and an assist. Parker Georgsen and Aaron Durant each recorded a goal.

The Kings will look to get back to their winning ways this weekend when they host Mountainview on Nov. 3 (8 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre, before traveling to Banff the following day to take on the lowly Bears.