Warriors down Foothills

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Warriors were able to weather an early physical Foothills Bisons attack, riding the momentum all the way through to a 7-0 win at the Strathmore Family Centre on Feb. 7.
“It was just a good team effort all around,” said Warriors assistant coach Kirby Ruzesky. “We started to get a little more pucks to the net, a little more shots and little more urgency. We pretty much broke out of the zone with a quick first pass on the tape and good support coming through the middle and it worked well for us.”
He added that they left goaltender Logan Grant out to dry at times, but overall he was happy with how strong they were able to play around him defensively through the game.
Brandon Kasdorf and Cole Berg led the way with two tallies apiece, while Stran BackFat Redcrow, Max Schafer and Brayden Kapty notched one each in the win.
The local double-A bantam team will visit the Okotoks Oilers on Feb. 13 (3:45 p.m.) before hosting the West Central Tigers at the Strathmore Family Centre the following day at 1:30 p.m.

 

Braves clicking
Meanwhile, the Wheatland Braves took three of a possible four points from the Taber Golden Suns after edging them 3-1 at home on Feb. 5, before tying them 3-3 on Feb. 7 in Taber.
Both teams were tied 1-1 in the third period last Friday night, before the Braves were able to open it up and used the big ice to their advantage.
“We didn’t change our game plan at all,” said head coach Carl Knudsen. “We just outworked the other guys here and used the big ice. We did move the puck around fairly well all game, but in the third period we just found another gear, simplified our game, got some pucks to the net. We needed to come out and try to win that third period is what it comes down to.”
He gave credit to goaltender Parker Forrest for making timely sprawling saves in the final frame, where he was able to give confidence to his players in the offensive end.
In the win, Zach Nicholls, Nolan Mahussier and Joel Romano supplied the offense.
Romano, Adam Kirkpatrick and Tristan Zandee scored in the tie.
The local double-A peewee team will have a weekend off from league action before hitting the ice again in Hussar when they host the Foothills Bisons on Feb. 19 (7:30 p.m.), and the Bow Valley Timberwolves will visit the Strathmore Family Centre on Feb. 21 (12:45 p.m.).

 

Chiefs bounce back
The Wheatland Chiefs put forth a much better effort against Medicine Hat than a week ago, and were able to shut them out 4-0 on Feb. 6.
Ryan Skytt notched the hat trick, while Chris Rebeyka scored one in the win.
The local double-A midget team will have played three games in four nights this week as they played the CNHA Canucks on Feb. 10, while they will be in Taber on Feb. 12 (8:30 p.m.) and will host the West Central Tigers in Hussar on Feb. 13 (5 p.m.).