Chiefs and Warriors crowned South Division Champs

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

Doug Talyor Photo

 

Wheatland Chiefs forward Ryan Skytt sent the Strathmore Family Centre into a frenzy on March 6 after scoring with 58 seconds left to edge the Medicine Hat Hounds 3-2, crowning his team South Division Champions.
With the win, the local midget double-A team is heading back to the league championship for the second consecutive year.
“Words can’t describe that,” said Skytt, who also scored one earlier in the contest.
“It was a hard fought game. It was good to see that final one go in after getting the one called off earlier which could be questioned if it went in it or not. We didn’t give them any time to get back in it at the end so it was good to see that.”
Skytt said they didn’t expect anything less from Medicine Hat in the final game of the playoff tournament because the Chiefs knew Medicine Hat would come at them hard and it was a matter of holding them off to win the game.
Head coach Shadoe Stoodley said he gives Medicine Hat credit for pushing harder at his team because he felt it created a battle out there all game long.
“It’s awesome, there’s no better feeling,” said Stoodley. “That’s just the one. We got a big one next weekend.”
He said the boys stayed positive all tournament long and were supporting each other on the bench.
Moving forward into the league final he cautioned they have to play their game and keep the game simple where they’re doing the little things right.
Robert Butterwick scored the other goal in the win.
The local midget double-A team got to the final by shutting out Foothills 5-0 in the semi-finals on March 5 and Lethbridge 4-0 on March 4 in their last round robin game. Early on they tied Foothills 4-4 and opened with a 6-1 win over Medicine Hat on March 3.
Stoodley said in the Lethbridge game they stuck to the game plan, and being up one goal going into the second, the next one was going to be big for either side.
“It took a little longer than we wanted but we got that next one and I thought we took control,” said Stoodley.
During the game all three lines were going and they could rely on putting anybody out there and consistency played a big role in the win.
In the tie against Foothills, he said the opposition fielded a different team and came with a better effort; but the Chiefs played a great two periods but didn’t play their best hockey.
For the team to come back and get the equalizer in the third impressed Stoodley because it showed the boys didn’t give up when it appeared they had taken a few too many shifts off.
He added that he knew what to expect from Medicine Hat to open the tournament and wanted to make sure the boys were amped up to beat them after losing to them to end the regular season.
Game 1 between the Chiefs and Red Deer Indy took place at the Strathmore Family Centre on March 10 (results not available as of press time).
Meanwhile the Wheatland Warriors went 4-0-1 en route to beating Taber in the final 4-2 to advance to the league final.
Head coach Cody Brown said the team fought right until the very end; and was happy they came out on top but now knows it’s on to bigger and better things in hopes of wrapping up the league.
“It’s a grind,” said Brown. “You’ve got to be prepared to come to work every day and when you’re playing that many games in that few of days it’s definitely tough. But the boys kept it together and gutted it out.”
Despite having a battered line up, Brown said it was in their shoes to execute the game plan and they did what they had to do to win games.
“They all came together and finished it out as a team,” said Brown.
Other scores for the Warriors included a 3-3 tie with Foothills and a 4-0 win over Medicine Hat on March 3, a 4-3 win over Lethbridge on March 4, and a 4-1 win over Okotoks on March 5 before beating them again 6-4 in the semi-final on March 6.
The local bantam double-A team will begin the league final against the Central AB Selects at the Strathmore Family Centre on March 11 at 7:30 p.m.
The Wheatland Braves season came to an end after losing to Taber 6-4 in the semi-finals on March 6 and in the end head coach Carl Knudsen said the tournament format didn’t fit their style of play.
“It didn’t suit our needs with how it all ended,” said Knudsen. “We simply didn’t have our best stuff here this weekend. The boys tried hard but sometimes things weren’t clicking. The Taber goalie stood on his head and we put a lot of chances on net, but a few mental errors and gave up some big scoring chances. For the most part, other than some mental lapses, we controlled that game. We showed we could be a strong contender and just wasn’t completely our weekend.”
Knudsen said they had to climb through hurdles and it was nice to see the team battle back in the game with gritty performances at times; but unfortunately they weren’t able to carry that through the tournament.
Other scores included opening with a 7-3 win over Foothills on March 3, a 6-4 loss to Lethbridge White on March 4 and a 7-4 win over Lethbridge Red on March 5.
More information on league finals can be obtained at www.scahl.com.