Kings never give up

Times Editor

 

The Wheatland Kings deserved a better fate. 

That was the thought of head coach Doug Murphy immediately after his team was eliminated from the Heritage League playoffs this past weekend.

“It was a great game with the wrong outcome,” said Murphy after a 3-2 double overtime loss to the Cochrane Generals in Game 6 on Feb. 25 at the Strathmore Family Centre. “Tonight we outplayed them, we out-chanced them. We just couldn’t put it away. We couldn’t score, it’s a tough way (to end the season).

“It’s frustrating because the guys played so well and they improved so much this season – I’m absolutely proud to death of every single guy in that room.”

After falling behind 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, the Kings battled back with the solid effort in Game 4, winning 7-4 on Feb. 22 at the Strathmore Family Centre.

The Kings had glorious chances early in Game 5, but couldn’t find the net en route to a 6-1 loss on Feb. 24. 

After trailing 2-0 in Game 6 on home ice, the Kings battled back to force overtime, before falling short in their quest for a league championship.

“We would have liked to force it to one more game anyway,” said an emotional coach. “It has been a great run here the last part of the season and into the playoffs. We can take and build on the experience we got now and carry that into next season.

“We’ve moved the bar immensely from last year to this year – the skill level has gone up, the speed has gone up, the level of commitment of the guys has increased so much.

“There is not a comparison between the two years.”

The Kings faced adversity all season, including a six-game losing streak where they had a number of injuries. However, the team battled through it and earned the third seed in the division and a first-round playoff bye.

That trend continued in the playoffs, where the team battled back in games and came back from a two-game deficit.

“It’s just a sort of way the guys have evolved – they don’t quit,” explained Murphy. “You look around at the better teams (in the league) and they find ways to win. Cochrane has done that for years – they just find a way to make it happen. 

“We’ve started to do that – find ways to win.”

According to Murphy, the key is to improve on that next season. Despite losing some key players like captain Mark Goodman, Tyler Brandon and Graham Douglas to graduation – and a handful of young players expected to play junior-A – the nucleus should remain intact and ready for next year.

“There is a lot of potential for this team, absolutely,” said Murphy. “If we can pick up a few new guys coming up, it’s going to be a great season next year.”