Warriors are league champs

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Warriors swept the bantam AA league championship over the Central AB Selects with a 5-3 home ice win in Game 1 on March 11 and a 5-1 win in Lacombe on March 12.
Warriors assistant coach Ty Brinton said this championship was the first he’s won as a coach or a player; the only other time he came close was in his second year of midget.
“To actually win it this time feels pretty sweet,” said Brinton. “We just told the boys going into a barn like that it’s going to be hostile and you know they’re going to come out. In the first five minutes they came out flying. We got an early goal and we just carried the momentum right through.”
He added that they just stuck to their game plan, telling the team to go out there and hit, while using their strong forecheck to their advantage to the point where they were nearly unstoppable.
“It was a whole team effort,” said Brinton. “Everyone pitched in. It was from our one goalie to the other goalie, to all our defencemen. As coaches we couldn’t be any happier with the group we’ve got, some of the kids are the best we’ve seen come through the system.”
It was the first time that captain Chase Clayton has been on a winning team; he said the team’s hard work and focus in every game got them the championship.
“I was so excited just knowing you’re that close to winning the ladder,” said Clayton, referring to his thoughts in the dying minutes.
“It was the best team I’ve ever played for. It was a great coaching staff. The groups of guys are good and all seemed to gel together. Everybody got down to work and knew you’d be sitting if you weren’t working hard.”
The Warriors will now play in the Bantam AA Provincial Championships in Taber from March 17 to 20.
Meanwhile, Red Deer’s Nathan Kartusch broke a 2-2 tie with 1:19 to go in the decisive Game 3 to beat the Wheatland Chiefs 3-2, claiming the Midget AA League Championship in Strathmore on March 13.
Chiefs assistant coach Keenan Desmet said it was a disappointment to lose the game on home ice with a nearly full house on hand to watch the game, but on the other hand the boys fought right until the end.
“Playoffs is a game of momentum,” said Desmet. “I mean as soon as we had momentum, we kept the puck in there. When they got the momentum back they capitalized on a few chances they got and that’s the way it goes. Sometimes you get on the wrong end of the stick.”
The Chiefs got out to an early 2-0 lead, and Desmet said he thought the score didn’t reflect how the team played as he thought the score could’ve been 4-0 by the first intermission.
While the second saw Red Deer get a goal back, the Chiefs took a 2-1 going into the third period and coaching staff felt pretty good about their chances.
“I thought we played hard all period,” said Desmet. “It was one of those timely goals they got and kind of solidified the game there with a minute and half left.”
Despite the outcome, the coaching staff is optimistic about coming back even stronger next season.