Braves handed first defeat

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Braves team faced their strongest opponent in the Lethbridge Hurricanes White last Saturday, said assistant coach Lane Wagner, who didn’t mind his team getting exposed to adversity this early on in the season.
“I guess it was our first sign of adversity,” said the local double-A assistant coach. “Their team wanted it more. It was good we seen it earlier rather than later anyway. We haven’t really seen anyone as good as them yet. It was a little different pace of game for sure.”
Wagner added their game had to be simplified in areas such as getting pucks out and deep in the offensive zone, while forechecking harder, for a chance to win the game.
Moving forward, he said, they have to play harder in all 60 minutes and win the little battles of the game.
Trevor Gillis led the way with two goals, while Tegan Skehar, Zach Nicholls, Avery Hansen and Tristan Zandee each scored one in the loss.
It wasn’t all bad news for the Braves, as they had opened up the weekend with a 12-3 win over the Foothills Bisons on Oct. 23. Wagner was pleased to see the offense shared amongst the players.
“It was good, we were getting some secondary scoring which was nice to see,” said Wagner. “It was nice to see not just one player putting up all the points.”
Zandee led the charge with four goals, followed by Joel Romano with a hat trick, while Hansen, Gillis, Philip Raycroft, Nolan Mahussier and Kegan Law notched one goal each in the win.
The local peewee double-A team will be in Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes Red on Nov. 1 at 2:45 p.m.

 

Chiefs hurt
Meanwhile, the injury-riddled Wheatland Chiefs managed to get by the NWCAA Bruins of Calgary on Saturday afternoon by a 4-2 score.
Head coach Shadoe Stoodley thought what gave them a chance to pull through in this game was their discipline and capitalizing on special teams.
“That was a big part, our discipline was good,” he said. “We got some calls against but that’s hockey. It’s going to happen. They stayed out of that stuff and that gave us a chance to score. We had two power play goals so that helps.”
With key players Jason Hobson and Alex Biletsky on the shelf for the foreseeable future, Stoodley said getting goals by other players when they need them will help them get farther in games.
Ryan Skytt scored two, while Kody Hammond and Mitchell Fawcett scored one each in the win.
The local double-A midget team will have two home games this weekend when they host the CRAA Blue at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 30 and the Okotoks Oilers Green on Nov. 1 at 5 p.m.

 

Warriors falter
The Wheatland Warriors saw a 2-1 lead slip from their grasp and settled for a 3-3 tie with Red Deer Ramada on Oct. 25 at home.
Brandon Kasdorf, Max Kathol and Cole Berg scored for the local double-A bantam team.
The Warriors will be in Hussar to play host to the Medicine Hat Hounds on Oct. 30 at 7:30 p.m.