Warriors win North Championship
Mario Prusina
Times Editor
The Wheatland Warriors will play for the SCAHL Championship after defeating the Bow Valley Timberwolves two games to none and earning the North Conference Championship.
The local double-A bantam team traveled to Cochrane for Game 1 on March 7, earning a 7-3 win, before closing out the series with a 4-1 home win in Game 2 on March 10 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“It started (in Game 1), we came out working hard and doing whatever it took to win,” said Warriors head coach Paden Grant. “It kind of just carried through (over to Game 2). We stepped up our game huge from last series – we knew it would be a big test and we answered the bell. Playing hard, winning the battles – everybody bought into the systems, so it worked out.”
Bow Valley boasted an impressive 25-8-0 regular season record, while the Warriors carried a 19-8-6 ranking going into the semi-final playoff.
Despite being the lower seed, the Warriors were confident going into the series.
“I don’t think the (seeding) factored into the series at all,” said the coach. “We’ve had success against these guys already this year. In our mind we were the top team.
“It was huge for us (to win Game 2) and not have to play that third game. We wanted them to focus on their job and take it one shift at a time, win the battles and not think about the next game at all.”
The Warriors shut down the high-powered Timberwolves scorers and used a balanced line-up to earn the sweep.
“We’re a hard-working team,” said Grant. “We’re deep and we need all the lines contributing and working hard. We like to get the puck deep, working it down-low and forechecking hard.
“We felt that if we played our game, we’d be successful and we’d come out on top.”
“We win ugly hockey games, that’s how we’re (victorious).”
The Warriors will now battle the Cranbrook Ice for the SCAHL Championship.
Despite not winning either game versus the Ice in the regular season (losing 6-0 in Cranbrook and a 4-4 draw on home ice), the Warriors are optimistic about the best-of-five series.
“They are a strong team, they’re strong on the puck and they’re quick,” said Grant. “We’re going to have to step up our game even more. Make quick decisions, move the puck well and battle hard.
“All it takes is that first win against them, you get rolling, you get your confidence. “We knew that we’d have to go through these top teams – and that’s what you want. You want to beat the best teams.”
Game 1 & 2 of the best-of-five series are slated for March 15 & 16 in Cranbrook. Both teams will take a break from the series to play in their respective provincial championship, before resuming the series in March 27 (6:45 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre. Game 4 (if necessary) will take place on March 28 (1 p.m.) in Strathmore and Game 5 (in necessary) is in Cranbrook on March 29.