Wheatland dominates Cranbrook

Justin Seward

Times Reporter

 

Considering the Wheatland Chiefs only made their roster a day before heading to Cranbrook, they did not have an issue of team chemistry as the club outscored Cranbrook 22-2 in two games.
Every line seemed to have connected in some form offensively; the local double-A midget team stuck with three sets of lines all weekend and everyone played a role in the wins.
“We played a team game,” said assistant coach Keenan Desmet. “They played a full 60 in the first game (15-1 win), it’s kind of hard to play a full 60 minutes when you’re blowing a team out. But they seemed to stick to the game plan.”
Desmet added the team is very strong, easy to work with and smart players who play with a physical edge.
In the 15-1 thrashing, Chase Hnatowich and Chris Rebeyka scored three apiece, while Lucas Muenchrath and Jason Hobson scored two. Ryan McHarg, Brad Hendricks, Ryan Skytt, Kody Hammond and Alec Biletsky all scored one each.
The second game, a 7-1 win, saw Hobson and Riley Romachenko score two apiece while Muenchrath, Skytt and Biletsky supplied single tallies.
The Chiefs will play their home opener on Oct. 10 (4:45 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Meanwhile the Wheatland Braves swept through Cranbrook with 3-1 and 5-2 scores respectively and have given head coach Carl Knudsen optimism about working hard on little things to win close games.
“We had two pretty good games,” said Knudsen. “They had some strong goaltending. The scoreboard didn’t really reflect how well we were playing. We got lots of shots in both games and controlled the play for the most part down low in the offensive end.”
He added they were effective when they chased down loose pucks and were relentless winning puck battles.
Tristan Zandee scored two goals and Tegan Skehar notched one in the first game. Adam Kirkpatrick supplied two goals, while Zandee, Ray Warrack and Zach Nicholls added singles in the second game win.
The local double-A peewee team will be back on the ice on Oct. 16 (7:30 p.m.) in Hussar against Lethbridge.
Cody Brown’s Wheatland Warriors split their weekend games, as they lost to Lethbridge on Saturday, but were able to redeem themselves with a 6-4 win over Cranbrook on Sunday.
“We went to Lethbridge and got a little too comfortable with expecting things to come easy,” said Brown. “A lot of guys I think thought it was going to be a walk in the park and they stood us up down there. They’re a decent team … and we didn’t show up and got what we deserved.”
Brown thought the game in Cranbrook was a better all-around effort but felt as though the team could have offered more offensively.
“Same thing, we definitely left a lot on the table out there, but like I said it’s a work in progress,” he said.
Brandon Kasdorf, Carter Kim and Anson McMaster scored in the loss.
Mo Hakim led the way with two, while Kasdorf, Kyle Bray, Max Kathol and Kevin Schrok rounded out the offense in the win.
The local double-A bantam team will be in Taber Oct. 9 before hosting Medicine Hat on Oct. 11 (4:45 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.