Braves and Chiefs move on

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Braves saw a test from the Sylvan Lake Lakers in their second round matchup, but managed to sweep them in two games to advance to the divisional final against Olds.
Head coach Keith Klemmensen thought the start in the first game, an 8-5 win on Feb. 28, could have been better executed.
“We started out okay but we got a little slack in the third period and the other team got closer to us than we should’ve allowed,” said Klemmensen. “We kind of gave them a reason to think that they had more hope than we needed to give them.”
This was the most goals that the local double-A peewee team allowed in quite some time and it was because of some lapses on the ice.
“The reason we had that many goals against is because we weren’t working hard enough over 200 feet of the ice for the whole game and that’ll translate into goals against every time,” said Klemmensen.
Matthew Quebec, Brayden Kapty, Nolan Bailey, Adam Kirkpatrick, Kyle Bray, Kyle Crnkovic, Max Kathol and Mo Hakim scored in the win.
Klemmensen was more thrilled with the 4-2 win in Game 2 on March 1, which swept the series 2-0.
“We outshot that team 61-21, after one we had 25 shots and after two we had 43 shots. We finally broke through in the third period with three goals, but you know you’re going to have games sometimes where the puck don’t go in,” said Klemmensen. “We were getting pucks to the net pretty good, we were having trouble locating rebounds. We got some great shots and opportunities.”
It was Bailey, Zach Nicholls, Max Schafer and Tristan Zandee that provided the offence.
Now the Braves look ahead to the North Division Finals against the Olds Grizzlys starting March 7 in Strathmore.
“We have a challenge in front of us, we got a team that is every bit as good as we are. We’ll see if we’re made out of the stuff that it’s going to take to go further,” said Klemmensen. “This is a good team we’re playing against, it don’t matter, and this is going to be as tough a challenge that we’ll face this year.”

 

Chiefs need overtime to finish Venom
The Wheatland Chiefs survived a hardworking Medicine Hat Venom team that gave them a scare at moments in the series, but were able to hold on for a 7-3 victory in Game 1 on Feb. 28 and a 4-3 overtime win in Game 2 on March 1.
Assistant coach Matt Gass thought they were able to sustain enough pressure to not give the Venom any sort of momentum in Game 1.
“I thought the guys came out well, we had a couple weeks off so it was important to get a good start on them,” said Gass. “You don’t want to fall behind to a team like that, we got the lead and never looked back.
“The team worked hard and never gave up. The first two periods we dominated them and kept it simple.”
Jayse Wilson and Ryan Skytt each had two apiece, while Jason Hobson, Jayden Smith and Kyle Rosolowski also scored in the series opener.
In Game 2, the local double-A midget team let off a little bit and had some penalty trouble, but were able to end the series early in overtime.
“We outplayed them quite a bit in the first period and we only scored one goal which didn’t help and in the second period we let off (with) some mental lapses for about 10 minutes,” said head coach Devin Olson.
Olson felt that the boys raised the tempo a notch and that is what led to the domination in overtime.
“We got to overtime and the guys kicked it into another gear and just dominated them. They never crossed the red line,” said Olson.
James Farmer scored two including the overtime winner, while Wilson and Cole Busslinger added singles.
The Chiefs will play the Okotoks Oilers in the South Division Final starting March 6 in Strathmore.
“The thing with Okotoks is if you can stick with them in the first period – they came out in all three games we’ve played them – they came out as hard as they could,” said Olson. “I think if we can keep it close for the first period I think we’ll be alright because they seem to fold up after that.”

 

Warriors force Game 3
The Bow Valley Timberwolves shocked many by walking out of the Strathmore Family Centre on Feb. 28 with a 3-2 double overtime win in Game 1 over the Wheatland Warriors.
The local double-A bantam team was on the unfortunate end on the game-winning goal, as they had to kill a penalty early in the second overtime.
Bow Valley was able to open the scoring in the first and take that lead into the intermission before Jayden Hendricks was able to tie it up in the middle frame on the power play.
The visitors were able to restore their lead with a shorthanded marker seven minutes into the third before Jordan Hansen tied it with eight minutes to go.
In Game 2, the Warriors were able to get an 8-5 win on March 1 to force Game 3.
Tyler Cardomone and Jayden Hendricks got hat tricks while Tanner Boutin and Hassan Akl got one each in the win.
Game 3 was played on March 4 at the Strathmore Family Centre (result was unavailable as of press time).
For more information on schedules, you can log onto www.scahl.com.