Thompson and Hoover power Kings in weekend set

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore Wheatland Kings snapped out of their goal-scoring funk and recorded a successful weekend of Heritage Junior Hockey League action.
After averaging six goals over their previous three games, the Kings lit the lamp 11 times, as they were clipped 7-6 in an overtime loss to the Airdrie Techmation Thunder on Oct. 14 at Ron Ebbesen Arena and crunched the Three Hills Thrashers 5-2 the following night at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Three Hills native and former Thrasher Brady Hoover stuck it to his old crew with 47 saves for his third win. Hoover played three seasons for the Thrashers, from 2012-15, going 28-24 with 3.88 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.
“I was a lot more stressed out last year playing against them. A lot of them didn’t understand why I left the team,” said Hoover, who moved to Calgary to take the plumbing program at SAIT. “This year it is a lot more fun and relaxed out there.”
Hoover still keeps in touch with most of the Thrashers roster, saying that most of them are very good friends.
“There was no trash talk out there, just five or six of them skated by and asked me to start letting some in,” he said. “It really helps me out to see the offence come back. It takes a lot of stress out of my game. They have done a great job of battling back and not calling her quits. That silly stuff in the game that cost us last year is gone now.”
Matt Thompson capped off an incredible weekend with two more goals, while other Kings scoring came from Kristian Ayoungman, Bradley Tingey and Cole Busslinger. Kody Hammond (2), Ayoungman (2) Nolan Lightning, Hayden Vanderploeg, Brooker Pretty Youngman and Tingey rounded out the assists.
“Brooker and Matt have been working great together on the powerplay this year,” said Kings assistant coach Keenan Desmet. “Matt has a great shot and Brooker has been getting him the puck. Together, they have been a pretty deadly combo for us on the power play.”
Pretty Youngman and Thompson combined for five power play goals this weekend.
Kings head coach Shadoe Stoodley was allowed to return from his suspension for the Thrashers game. He served five games for skating a player back in training camp that wasn’t properly released from his former club.
The Thrashers drop to 3-5-1.
It was an absolute barnburner in Airdrie. The Kings received a pair of hat tricks from two vets.
Thompson is entering his third season with the Kings and is already experiencing career highs for points.
Thompson scored two in the first period and one in the second for his hatty, while Pretty Youngman’s third goal forced overtime at the 4:20 remaining in the third.
“It was nice to get back to our ways we had at the beginning of the year,” said the Langdon native Thompson. “I would have rather scored no goals and us get the win instead of scoring a hat trick and losing. We should have won this game in OT.”
The Thunder (7-2-2) sits in first place in the Northern division with 16 points, two ahead of the Mountainview Colts (7-1).
“We blocked a lot of shots this weekend, played more physically and more as a team. We got away from that type of style that worked for us at the beginning of the season,” said Thompson.
Thompson’s previous high was back in the 2014-15 campaign with the Kings. In 31 games he racked up six goals, 11 points and 259 penalty minutes. This year, Thompson leads the team with eight goals and 12 points through seven games.
“Brooker and Kristian did a great job finding me with the puck. They gave me lots of opportunities to shoot from all over, firing pucks at the net,” said Thompson.
The Thunder outshot the Kings 44-32. Kings netminder Hoover exited the game part way through the first period for a breather after allowing a couple of goals. He returned to the net to start the second and finished with 33 saves, giving him 80 stops on the weekend.
“We still have lots of work to do in our D zone. It’s good that we started scoring again, but we need to build in our defensive zone and work outwards,” said Desmet.
The Kings did a great job shutting down one of the HJHL’s leading scorers. Clay Murray was recently named HJHL Player of the Week and was held to one assist.
The Kings travel to the Spray Lakes Family Sports Centre to battle the undefeated Cochrane Generals (10-0) on Oct. 21. The Generals dusted the Kings in two exhibition games this fall and in the second game of the regular season 6-3. The Generals have had the Kings number lately.
“We need to keep it simple against Cochrane,” said Desemt. “They have a great offensive crew that will capitalize on any of our mistakes. They also have a great transition game, so we need to focus on getting pucks in deep and put our forecheck to work.”
The Generals are armed with the two league leaders in scoring. Connor Rendell has 21 snipes and 29 points, trailed by Slater Ransom with seven goals and 27 points. The Generals have six skaters in the Top 15 in scoring.
Next home game for the Kings goes Oct. 22 (8:15 p.m.) when the Medicine Hat Cubs (1-5-3) arrive at the Strathmore Family Centre. The Kings went 1-3 against their Southern Division rivals last season.