Warriors flat in opener
Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter
The Wheatland Warriors opened their 2016-17 season on the wrong note when they dropped a pair of games over the weekend.
The local double-A bantam team fell 4-0 to the Okotoks Oilers on Sept. 23 at Murray Arena, and were snubbed 4-1 by the West Central Tigers on Sept. 25 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“Well, there is definitely a lot of work to be done,” said Warriors head coach Cody Brown. “I think a lot of this weekend had to do with guys having the jitters and nerves. Some of these guys have never played at this level before so it was a new experience.”
Goaltender Logan Grant is one of two players returning from last year’s championship squad and started the first game in net. Corey Ross got the call between the pipes against the Tigers but didn’t fare much better.
Adam Kirkpatrick netted the first goal of the campaign from Mitch Tessemaker and Keith Yellowfly.
“It’s still pretty early for us,” said Brown. “Even though we had a training camp and played in exhibition games, we still have a lot of rust to knock off. We will skate this week and put in some light system work and get ready for our next games.”
The Warriors opened the season without captains. Brown and his coaching staff will spend the next week mulling over their options.
The Warriors travel to the Taber Community Centre to battle with the Taber Golden Suns (2-0) Friday, Sept. 30 and host Red Deer Ramada (0-2) Saturday, Oct. 1 (6 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Chiefs go 1 and 1 in exhibition play
The Wheatland Chiefs wrapped up their exhibition season with a tournament in Taber.
The local double-A midget team dropped the opener 7-3 to the Medicine Hat Hounds, but rebounded nicely to topple the Taber Golden Suns 6-3 and the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-0.
Following Tuesday’s final practice, the Chiefs made their final cuts.
“Our guys played great in Taber. It was a good last opportunity for us to see them in game form and it went well,” said Chiefs’ assistant coach Matt Gass. “I’m very excited to have this group. I’m probably more excited about this group than I was about the past two seasons, and that includes a championship team.”
Chemistry shouldn’t be a hurdle for the Chiefs as they are running it back with a familiar unit. Six forwards and four defencemen have returned from last year’s roster.
The Chiefs host the Olds Grizzlys Friday, Sept. 30 (7:30 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre in their season opener. The Chiefs head to Cranbrook the next night for a tilt with the Cranbrook Dynamiters at Cranbrook Memorial Arena.
Braves fall short
The Wheatland Braves turned in a blue-collar weekend, but didn’t leave with the desired result.
“We performed the way I expected us to perform this weekend. We have a good group of kids that work hard, we just need a more consistent effort,” said head coach Keith Klemmensen.
The local double-A peewee team was stuffed 6-1 by the Olds Grizzlys on Sept. 24 at the Strathmore Family Centre and slighted 4-2 by the West Central Tigers the following day at the NexSource Centre in Sylvan Lake.
The Braves played the Grizzlys tightly, trailing 3-1 until the eight-minute mark in the third period.
“We only generated 13 shots offensively,” said Klemmensen. “We have a couple guys here that are a little tentative when it comes to shooting the puck and that’s not a big deal. We get kids from different organizations that were taught a different style than us.”
Joshua Alberda netted the lone goal Friday night and added another marker Saturday. Garrin Gosling was the other goal scorer against the Tigers, while assists on the weekend came from Philip Raycroft (2), Adam Moore and Tyler Fairbairn.
“We just need to adjust to the higher skill level of hockey and play the full 60 minutes of hockey,” said Klemmensen.
The Braves will prepare for another weekend slate of games by concentrating on defensemen’s footwork and passing on the fly.
The Braves will hit the road with a pair of road games Saturday, Oct. 1, starting in Okotoks at Murray Arena when they face the Okotoks Oilers Green (1-0). Sunday, the Braves tango with the Bow Valley Timberwolves (2-0) at Cochrane Arena.