Chiefs almost knocked

Times Reporter 

 

Up 3-0 by the end of the second, the midget AA Wheatland Chiefs thought they had the game in the bag against the Red Deer Indy Graphics in Hussar on Nov. 15, a team they’ve been chasing in the standings. However, in the third, Red Deer came as close as 3-2; Chiefs’ goalie Mike Conrad saved 26 shots for the close win.

Though multiple penalties were called, the Chiefs only managed one powerplay marker.

“We’re working on it,” Wheatland Coach Devin Olson said. “The big thing was that we didn’t have much powerplay time. There were a lot of penalties, but as soon as we got a powerplay, we were taking a penalty.”

Olson said the Chiefs would only have 20 to 30 seconds of an actual man advantage, before getting a penalty of their own. Blair Roszell ended the game with 14 minutes, including a game misconduct.

“He got a 10 minute in the third,” Olson said. “Everyone kind of got aggravated. The ref called a few on us that were just kind of questionable calls – stuff that he’d let go of the whole game and then the third period.”

Luckily, one of the Chiefs’ strong suits is their defensive play when down a player in the box.

“Our penalty kill has been really good all year – which is good in a way, but we shouldn’t be taking that many penalties,” Olson said. “Our strong work ethic is the biggest thing. We had a few games about a month ago where we didn’t show up, and didn’t play hard, and didn’t win. We’ve kind of got everyone back on track now, and the last few games have been very good.”

Cody Willis and Coltyn Herman are top 20 in scoring, having played close to half as many games as the rest of the league – both added a point against Red Deer.

“When they show up and work hard, they put up a lot of points for us. They’re kind of our go-to guys,” Olson said. “We expected that, because they both had good years last season for us.”

The Wheatland Chiefs are 7-1-1, and third in the division, but have only played nine games in comparison to most teams who have played 15 or 16. 

 

The bantam Warriors fired 53 shots against the Bow Valley Timberwolves on Nov. 15 at home, and won by a score of 8-4; Lucas Muenchrath and Joel Krahenbil had three points each, while Kyle Merkosky added two assists. Merkosky is now fifth in league scoring, with 30 points in 15 games. The Warriors are 14-1, and lead the league with 28 points. They face off against the Sylvan Lake Lakers on Nov. 22.