Chiefs firing on all cylinders

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Chiefs fired 100 pucks at the Cranbrook Knights goaltender on Feb. 13 on home ice and managed to humiliate them 18-1.
They had period leads of 4-1, 13-1 and added 5 in the third on a night that could not have ended any faster.
Jayse Wilson led the onslaught with four goals, Ryan Skytt had a hat trick, while Chris Rebeyka and Jason Hobson added two apiece. Brad Hendricks, Matt Halkovic, Liam Rycroft, Quinton Peplinski, Jayden Smith, James Farmer and Cole Busslinger rounded out the offence with one each,
Head coach Devin Olson was glad the boys put that one behind them quickly because they faced a much stiffer opponent in the North Division-leading Red Deer Chiefs.
The local midget double-A had to earn the win with a last minute power play empty netter to seal the victory 3-2 on Feb. 15.
“It was good that we bounced back from (Friday’s) game. You can get too many bad habits in a game like that. Then come in and play the top team in the league, it was a playoff type game and the boys showed up tonight,” said Olson.
“The boys got a taste of a playoff atmosphere and how it is to win.”
The Chiefs were able to take the body to Red Deer and use their size to their advantage but played a comparable style to them.
“They weren’t a big team, so the small ice is good, we got some big bodies we can throw around and wear teams down,” said Olson.
“They had three lines that work hard. They’ve been on a role winning 22 straight games, they’re on kind of high so this is good to have that against them.”
Hobson, Smith and Alex Biletsky scored in the win.
The Chiefs got a bye in the first round and will begin round 2 at home on the Feb. 27 weekend.

 

Braves finish strong
The Wheatland Braves made a statement heading into the postseason with a 9-2 win over Bow Valley on Feb. 13 and a 14-0 win in Medicine Hat on Feb. 15.
The local peewee double-A team tied Olds for first, but based on a tiebreaker will take the first seed heading into the playoffs.
Kyle Crnkovic netted three, while Nolan Bailey, Kyle Bray, Max Schafer, Bryce Benfield, Mo Hakim and Tristan Zandee rounded out the scoring against Bow Valley.
In the drubbing of Medicine Hat, it was Hakim with the hat trick, while Bray, Zandee and Schafer had two. Crnkovic, Benfield, Max Kathol, Adam Kirkpatrick and Brayden Kapty also scored in the big win.
Meanwhile, the local peewee team is off to provincials with a 7-0 win over the same Bow Valley team on Feb. 16 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Provincials will take place in Olds from March 19-22.

 

Warriors playoff ready
Cody Brown’s Wheatland Warriors played a tough stretch of hockey as they ended off the season with three games in three nights.
They began the weekend with a 3-3 tie in Hussar on Feb. 13 against the Foothills Bisons, and then on Feb. 14 they beat the Red Deer Steel Kings 5-0 in Strathmore; before capping it off with a 3-2 win on the road against the Red Deer Ramada.
Brown was impressed with his team’s effort with that much hockey in that short of time.
“It was a pretty good weekend really, kind of just kept getting better as the games went on, which is tough when you’re playing that much hockey in that short of time. But by Sunday against Red Deer we finished off pretty decent,” said Brown.
“We played pretty darn close to playing 60 minutes of good hockey so it was a good game to end it off, get a win and good game to start preparing for playoffs.”
The Warriors will face off against the same Steel Kings in the first round of the playoffs and know that hard work will be key.
“We’ve said it all year, as long as we’re working hard every game, it’s playoffs, it’s magnified, a team can’t take a game off,” said Brown.
“You can’t take a game off, you’ve got to be going every night if you want to take a run at things and that’s what we’re trying to instill in the guys, that you can’t take anything for granted whether it’s a game or a shift.”
He added that if the boys are moving the puck well and playing physical, they will succeed.
Game 1 will be at the Strathmore Family Centre on Feb. 21 (4:15 p.m.). Game 2 will be the following day in Red Deer (12 p.m.). Game 3, if necessary, will be Feb. 25 (6:30 p.m.) in Strathmore.