Chiefs clinch first; Braves and Warriors gain ground

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Chiefs added two more victories to the win column, but not without their opponents making them earn it.
The local double-A midget team got all they could handle from the Airdrie Lightning but came out on top with a 5-2 win on Feb. 6 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
On Saturday, it was the most tightly contested game the Chiefs had played in as they edged the top-ranked Calgary CRAA Blue 1-0 on home ice.
“Tonight (vs. the Blue), we were doing the little things like dumping and chasing which is when you play these good teams with a lot of speed, you just want to beat them in the battles,” said assistant coach Shadoe Stoodley.
He gave Chiefs goaltender Nolan Kent a lot of credit for being solid in the crease and for the timely saves.
“These guys are the top team in Calgary and we’re top in the south here but our goalie stood on his head. He was unbelievable … can’t ask for a better game out of a guy,” said Stoodley.
“In the second period, I didn’t count how many blocked shots, but on their power plays, everybody was getting down and blocking the shots in front of the goalie.”
Jayse Wilson scored the lone marker early in the first.
Stoodley felt that in the game versus Airdrie they got into some bad habits early and were fortunate to recover from them.
“We got into some penalty trouble and a lot of stuff after the whistle which we don’t want to see. We sat them down after the second and told them to stay calm and once we did that in the third period, I thought we took it to them,” said Stoodley.
Wilson, Alec Biletsky, Quinton Peplinski, Kaleb Robinson and Jayden Smith scored against the Lightning.
The Chiefs had a bye in the first round of provincial play downs but played their first game on Feb. 4 and won 6-1, and with a win on Feb. 10 will be making a trip to the tournament.
They will conclude the regular season will a pair of home games, on Feb. 13 vs the Cranbrook Knights (7:30 p.m.) and Feb. 15 against the Red Deer Elks (1 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.

 

Braves gain a share of first
The Wheatland Braves played their toughest game of the year against the first place Olds Grizzlys. They prevailed with a 3-1 home ice victory and as a result will have a share of top spot.
“I thought our penalty killing was pretty good. I think we’ve established our depth at centre and seen tremendous improvement on our backend as far as playing the oncoming rush and general defending,” said head coach Keith Klemmensen.
He admits the players could have been a little more aware of off the opening drop of the puck.
“I’m not sure if our players were ready to go, some of them were. I think a lot of them were nervous, some of them showed that they were content to do the work for a little while,” said Klemmensen.
“That other team was a very well coached team with three lines that work hard all the time, a defense that’s hard to play against and they can beat us on any given day.”
Kyle Bray scored two, while Nolan Bailey sniped one in the win.
The Braves were able to shut out the Sylvan Lake Lakers 6-0 in Hussar on Feb. 6 Klemmensen thought they let them hang in the game too long.
“I thought we let that team hang around a little bit but Sylvan Lake is a good team and they can do more than people give them credit for,” said Klemmensen.
Kyle Crnkovic had four goals, while Bray and Tegan Skehar scored one a piece in the win.
The local double-A peewee team swept their opening round provincial play downs against Airdrie with a 6-0 victory at home and a 6-2 win on the road. They will begin Round 2 against Bow Valley next week.
Next up will be two road games in Cochrane on Feb. 13 against Bow Valley (7 p.m.) and Feb. 15 in Medicine Hat (11:30 a.m.).

 

Warriors battling for wins
The Wheatland Warriors battled against the Airdrie Lightning and won 4-2 on Feb. 8 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“I was happy with the boys in the game against Airdrie. I thought especially in the second period, was about as good 20 minutes as we’ve thrown together in a long time,” said head coach Cody Brown.
“The whole game in general was pretty good. We were controlling the play in their end for a bulk of the game so that was good to see that we were moving the puck well.
Hassan Akl, Chase Clayton, Jayden Hendricks and Majid Kaddourra scored for the Warriors in the win.
The local double-A bantam team got a 6-2 road win in Red Deer on Saturday afternoon and Brown was happy with the offensive production.
“It was not a bad game against a weaker opponent, regardless we found the back of the net six times so it was good to see,” said Brown.
Tyler Cardamore led the way with two, while Akl, Hendricks, Jase Westgard and Tanner Boutin supplied singles.
The Warriors will play three games in three nights this weekend including one more home game on Feb. 14 (4:45 p.m.) against Red Deer.
They were able to get past Brooks in the first round of the provincial play downs and will play Bow Valley in Round two.