Successful season

Times Reporter   

 

The bantam Warriors – the last remaining Wheatland team in playoff contention – were paired with the first place Okotoks Oilers for the third round. The Oilers were the only team with a better record than the Warriors in their division, as Wheatland finished 28-6-3, and Okotoks 29-3-5; they continued that superior record into the playoffs, defeating the Warriors 6-2 on March 7, and 4-1 on March 8 to advance.

“I think Okotoks took advantage of their opportunities,” said Warriors coach Mark Laycock. “We didn’t create enough offense and didn’t score enough goals.”

After the score was made 2-2 in the second period on March 7, thanks to goals from Robert Butterwick and Kyle Merkosky, Okotoks’ offense became sparked on a shorthanded goal and never looked back. 

“That kind of deflated us a little bit, going into the third period,” Laycock said.

Wheatland changed goalies from Ty Tarvyd to Matt Schafer, after Tarvyd allowed five goals on 25 shots. The change didn’t help, as Okotoks still shot one past Schafer.

The next day, Wheatland again changed goalies, this time from Schafer to Tarvyd for the start of the third period.

“It was no fault of Matty’s, he actually played a pretty good first two periods. He made some saves to keep us in it. I thought maybe changing the goalie in the third would give us a little bit of a jump. It did a little, but not enough,” Laycock said.

Joel Krahenbil scored the lone goal on the powerplay. Near the end of the third, Brady Skiffington took a penalty for hitting from behind, and was suspended for one game.

“Maybe it was a little frustration, but it was just one of those hockey plays where it happened fast,” Laycock said.

The Warriors will travel to Edmonton from March 13-16 for provincials. No matter the outcome, Laycock is happy with this season.

“It was a good year. A lot of kids accomplished a lot of positive things,” he said.