Raider players finding their groove

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

A couple of Strathmore players had strong showings at their respective tournaments from April 29- May 3.
Karissa Hammond displayed her resilient defensive abilities at the Alberta Challenge in Medicine Hat, while Lucas Muenchrath found chemistry quickly at the Alberta Cup in Canmore.
Muenchrath was surprised at how skilled and fast the players were at the tournament.
“It was a really talented tournament obviously because it’s the top players in Alberta but our team came together really quick and we got chemistry really quick,” said Muenchrath. “We came together but fell short.”
Team South held on to a 3-0 lead heading into the third, but Calgary South seemed to score at pivotal times in the game.
“We played a good third period, like they didn’t even touch the puck,” said Muenchrath. “We outplayed them for 20 minutes, they just seemed to score goals, but our goalies played outstanding all week.”
He felt that his play, along with that of his other Raider teammates, was pretty consistent throughout the tournament.
“I thought I played pretty good. My other Raider teammates (Joel Krahenbil, Cole Clayton, Tyler Strath and Brady Skiffington) all played pretty good, everyone just played simple and played their game and just did what they could.”
Meanwhile, Hammond thought her team gelled well early enough in the tournament to have success.
“It was good experience, I learned a lot, and my team came together real quickly,” said Hammond. “We knew how each other played and worked well on the ice.”
There were many areas of the Lightning’s game that were strong points.
“We had great passing throughout the tournament, we always did good passing and defense,” said Hammond. “Especially the north teams, I didn’t know a lot of them so they were faster. My first game I was a little bit rusty but after that it was all good.”
She admits that it was nice going out there and proving everyone wrong about their team.
“It was nice going out there and showing them that we earned it and can win it and making the finals was also fun,” said Hammond.

Draft time
The WHL bantam draft was held on May 7 in Calgary and three local products got drafted. Cole Clayton went 46th overall to the Medicine Hat Tigers, followed by Tylers Strath going 59th overall to the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Joel Krahenbil went 141st overall to the Spokane Chiefs.