Butterwick lifts Chiefs over Okotoks

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

It appeared the Wheatland Chiefs were destined to settle for a 1-1 tie with Okotoks on Nov. 1, until local player Robert Butterwick got a gift up the middle and capitalized on the Okotoks mistake for his first goal of the season.
At the 1:24 mark, Butterwick seized the opportunity by being at the right place at the right time.
“The defense tried to fire it down the ice, I caught it in the air and threw it down and shot, didn’t even look,” said first year forward.
Despite a 5-3 loss to the CRAA Blue on Friday, he thought the team played well, in spite of recent injuries.
“We played good both games,” he said. “The first game we took a couple shifts off. They scored five goals – you can’t take shifts off in this league.”
The difference between the loss and the come-from-behind win was focus and determination.
Riley Romashenko scored the other goal in the win against Okotoks.
Chris Rebeyka, Brad Hendricks and Zach Suntjens scored in the loss to the Blues.
The local midget double-A team played Nov. 4 in Calgary against CRAA Gold (results unavailable as of press time), They will host the Medicine Hat Hounds in Hussar on Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. before hitting the road to play the AB Central Selects on Nov. 8.
Braves back on track
The Wheatland Braves continued to find ways to win as they topped the Lethbridge Hurricanes Red 5-2 on Nov. 1.
Assistant coach Rylan Muenchrath said the team was ready to play in a much closer contest compared to the 11-2 win earlier in the season against Lethbridge.
“This time it was a better game,” said Muenchrath. “They played well, a couple of errors, that cost us some goals but the goalie played well on their side. It could’ve been a different score, but our guys played well.”
Although they were coming off their first defeat last weekend, he gave credit to the team for not coming to the rink with their heads low and thought that their penalty kill was strong.
“We haven’t had practice with the penalty kill a whole lot, being early in the season, but they’re starting to pick it up,” said Muenchrath.
Adam Kirkpatrick sniped three while Nolan Muhussier and Tristan Zandee tallied one each in the win.
The local peewee double-A team will be home to face the Cranbrook Eagles on Nov. 6 in Hussar at 7:30 p.m. before heading back down to Lethbridge on Nov. 8.
Warriors win
The Wheatland Warriors were able to get back in the win column after two weekends in a row with ties, as they were able to blank the Medicine Hat Hounds 3-0 on Oct 30 in Hussar.
Carter Kam led the way with two goals while Keith Yellowfly added one in the win.
The local bantam double-A team will have two road games this weekend when they hit the ice in Taber on Nov. 7 at 5:30 p.m. before playing in Olds on Nov. 8 at 5:30 p.m.