Braves tame Tigers

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Braves have picked up points in five of their last six games, with their latest game being a 6-4 win over a tough West Central Tigers at the Strathmore Family Centre on Jan. 24.
“We had a lot of scoring chances and we buried a few,” said head coach Carl Knudsen. “Once we get to work in the offensive zone, we sustain pressure for minutes on end. It’s just defensively we get running around a little bit and we start losing control of the defensive zone was our biggest thing, a couple mental lapses really.”
Knudsen said he was concerned more with the team giving up too many chances as a result of breakdowns in their own zone.
He credits the play of goaltender Daniel Hauser for making key saves in the third period to prevent the Tigers from gaining any sustained pressure.
“He bailed us out when we needed it,” said Knudsen. “They had a few good scoring opportunities and he was there. Other than that, we just put the puck down in their end and that’s the best way to kill time.”
Ray Warrack scored three goals, while Kobe Gosling, Adam Kirkpatrick and Joel Romano provided the offense in the win.
On Jan. 22 the Braves hosted the Okotoks Oilers at the Strathmore Family Centre and squandered an early 4-3 third period lead en route to a 5-4 loss.
Kirkpatrick, Gosling, Trey Gillis and Philip Raycroft scored in the loss.
The local peewee double-A team will get a rematch with Okotoks on Jan. 30 at 5:15 p.m. on the road before hosting Red Deer Parkland on Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. in Hussar.
Chiefs take three of four points
The Wheatland Chiefs have been lacking offensive production as of late and started the weekend off on Jan. 23 with a 2-2 tie with the CBHA Blackhawks, but were able to find the back of the net often with a 9-6 win in Okotoks on Jan. 24.
Assistant Coach Keenan Desmet said despite the team playing well in both games, it was vital for the team to find consistency after a recent slump.
“It was real important just because we’ve been on a slide after Christmas,” said Desmet. “I think this weekend we pulled through two games which was good and we’ve seen lots of up-turn in the last couple of days.”
He said the boys knew how crucial the game in Okotoks was in terms of the positioning in the standings and thought the team followed through with a strong effort in regaining first place.
“We came out flying, probably the two best periods we’ve played all season long,” said Desmet. “We were up 7-2 and just let the foot off the pedal in third and then we had two penalties they scored on. We can score, now we just have to consistently do it.”
Wacy Sandum and Chris Rebeyka led the way with two goals each, while Lucas Muenchrath, Robert Butterwick , Ryan Bell, Jason Hobson and Kody Hammond supplied one each in the win.
Hammond and Butterwick scored in the tie.
The Chiefs will hit the road on Jan. 29 to Medicine Hat with puck drop at 8:15 p.m., before facing the Foothills Bisons in High River on Jan. 31 at 4:30 p.m.
Tourney winners
The Wheatland Warriors won the Olds Tournament by beating the Calgary Wranglers 5-1 in the finals, in an event where they finished with a record of 4-1.
“We were kind of plagued with injuries coming off the last couple of weeks but everybody showed up and we had a good team effort,” said head coach Cody Brown. “We told the boys ‘we came all the way down there and it would be great to come out on top there.’ That’s what you’re obviously gunning to do and they brought forth a good effort and had to face a lot of adversity going in and they didn’t let that get the better of them.”
The Warriors will be back in action when they host the Cranbrook Hornets in Hussar on Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m.