Kings scramble for split

Times Editor

 

Ten minutes of solid, exciting hockey enabled the Wheatland Kings a split in a pair of home games at the Strathmore Family Centre this past weekend.

After losing 8-5 to Coaldale on Jan. 5 and trailing 4-2 to the Banff Bears in the third period the following day, the Kings fought back with three unanswered goals to earn a 5-4 win.

According to Kings assistant coach Derek Schlamp, despite not playing to their potential over the weekend, they’ll take the two points and move on.

“Other than the last 10 minutes, we didn’t play much of a game,” said Schlamp. “Any game from here on out until playoff time is a big two points. We have to be playing playoff hockey (the rest of the season). Any two points against a division rival is a big two points.”

The Bears kept the game close and even took the lead before the Kings buckled down and earned the win. Despite some inconsistent refereeing, the Kings were not using it as an excuse.

“We can’t get too caught up in what the refs are doing,” said Schlamp. “They ref the game and we can’t exactly do anything about what they’re doing out there. We have to keep focused and play our game.”

The Kings began the weekend with a battle against the second-seeded Coaldale Copperheads. Despite having 2-1 and 4-3 leads going into each intermission, the Kings were outscored 5-1 in the third period en route to the loss.

“We weren’t ready to play – there were some issues with a couple of players and we just didn’t bring it,” said Schlamp. We didn’t deserve to win and therefore we lost.

“It was just one of those games – where it was the most important game of the year – and we didn’t come through.”

The Kings will look to get back to their winning ways this weekend when they host the top team in the league, the Okotoks Bisons on Jan. 12 (8 p.m.).

According to Schlamp, the Kings need to be at their best against the team that only has two regular season losses (27-2-1).

“We are playing the best team in the league, by far,” said the assistant bench boss. “That is going to be a big test, we’ll know where we’re at (going into) the playoffs. We always play good against Okotoks, but we got to bring the best that we have in order to beat them.”