Chiefs open with 2 wins

Times Reporter   

 

The Wheatland Chiefs opened their midget season this weekend on the road, with two victories in Taber and Cranbrook, respectively. On Oct. 5, the Chiefs beat the Taber Golden Suns 4-2, and the Cranbrook Ice 6-4 the following day. Coltyn Herman had a hat trick and two assists against Cranbrook, while Taylor Donner scored in both games.

“He played good,” Chiefs coach Devin Olson said of Donner. “He had a couple on the second day that he could have capitalized on, but he kind of got away with a couple of tap-in goals. He kept working hard, and he ended up getting a few points. That line was really good.”

Donner and line mates Coltyn Herman and Jayse Wilson were the strongest against Cranbrook, combining for nine points. Other goal scorers over the weekend included Blair Roszell, Cody Lassiter, Jayden Smith and Quinton Peplinski.

“I thought it was a good weekend, especially for the first two games,” Olson said.

The team travelled over two hours from Strathmore to Taber on Saturday, and then another four and a half to Cranbrook after their game. The boys eventually arrived in Cranbrook at 3 a.m., and had a game to play at noon that day.

“We weren’t too bad, but we only had two practices as a full team,” Olson said, who wanted to spend more time on special teams. “There’s just that kind of little stuff. Then just some of the positional playing in our defensive end that needs some work. With our defense, the big thing is clearing guys in front of our goalies so they can see the shot.”

With two goalies of very different sizes (Ben Bogstie at 6’5, and Mike Conrad at 5’8), Olson said that especially with the latter, his players really need to make the puck visible.

Another undefeated AA team is the bantam Wheatland Warriors, who sit 5-0 on the season with 10 points. They have the most goals for in the league with 40; the next team, the Bow Valley Timberwolves, have 26. They defeated the Sylvan Lake Lakers 7-1 on Oct. 5.

Joel Krahenbil leads the team with seven goals in five games, and had a five point performance against Sylvan Lake. Rylan Longmuir contributed two goals, and Brady Skiffington had a three point night as well. Kyle Merkosky added another goal in the Sylvan Lake victory.

The peewee Wheatland Braves lost 5-1 against the Cranbrook Eagles on Oct. 4, with only 13 shots on net. Braves’ goalie Kenny Holt-Stewart saved 37 of 42 shots, while Hassan Akl had the team’s lone goal in the loss.

The next day, the AA Braves tied the Taber Golden Suns 5-5, with Tarun Fizer scoring the game-tying goal with five minutes left in the third. Fizer also had a power play marker earlier in the night; he leads the team in points and goals. Hassan Akl, Kyle Crnkovic, and Kayden Gatz popped in the other markers. The Wheatland Braves are 1-3-1 on the season.