Warriors offence warming up

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Warriors turned in their first weekend sweep of the South Central Alberta Hockey League season, thanks in large part to strong goaltending and an offensive outburst.
The local double-A bantam team skated to a 7-4 win over the Foothills Bisons (1-11-0) Nov. 4 at Blackie Arena, followed by a 6-3 icing of the Okotoks Oilers Nov. 6 at the Strathmore Family Centre. The Warriors (5-7-2) have won three out of their last four games.
“We’re heading in the right direction now,” said Warriors head coach Cody Brown. “Guys have bought into our system and we are getting some positive results.”
It was an especially nice win for the Warriors, who were 0-2 against the Oilers (6-3-2) this season.
The Warriors didn’t truly hit their groove until halfway through the second period against the Oilers, when they started piling on shots from all over the ice.
Zach Nicholls was Johnny-on-the-spot in the first when he picked off an Oilers pass right by the net and chipped it in.
Warriors captain Kage Yellowfly took a pass from Kobe Gosling in the corner, calmly slid the puck between the defender’s feet to the left of the net and unleashed a backhand top shelf to put the Warriors up 2-1 after two periods.
Yellowfly sits second on the team with seven goals and 13 points in 14 games.
“Adam Kirkpatrick and I have been putting in hard working shifts and it’s paying off. He’s nice to play with,” said Yellowfly.
Yellowfly opened the scoring in the third on a two-on-one rush when he elected to keep the puck, firing a laser over the blocker of Logan Heffron: 3-1 Warriors.
“Kage is a great team player, he brings a good, consistent work ethic to each shift and the guys thrive off of that,” said Brown.
Trey Gillis and Austin Kuryk found their way to the back of the net in the third, with Kuryk registering an empty net goal to ice it with 1:12 renaming.
“That’s the thing we have been struggling with this season; getting pucks on net. Any shot is a good shot for us right now,” said Brown.
Logan Grant started both games over the weekend and turned away 50 of 57 shots.
“We need him to be strong in net. He is one of the returning guys on this roster so we are expecting him to take charge and be steady in the crease,” said Brown.
“The guys are playing great in front of me and doing a great job clearing pucks,” said Grant. “It feels really good to pick up a pair of wins. Now we know we can play like this and we need to carry it into the second half of the season.”
The Warriors are in tough this weekend as they face a pair of division leaders. First, they’ll host the south conference-leading Cranbrook CPC Hornets (7-4-2) Nov. 12, 5 p.m. at Hussar Arena. The Warriors hit the road Nov. 13 to take on the north conference-leading West Central Trilliant Real Estate Group Tigers (9-1-2) at the Rocky Arena Complex.

 

Chiefs beat Hounds
The Wheatland Chiefs (9-1-1) avenged their early season loss to the Medicine Hat Hounds (7-3-2) in a battle for first place in the South conference and gave themselves a little bit of breathing room as well.
The local double-A midget team dropped a one-goal game to the Hounds three weeks ago in Medicine Hat, but blew the doors off them in the rematch, leaving with an 8-2 victory Nov. 6 at Kinplex I Arena.
The Chiefs opened the game with a six-goal explosion in the first period, much of it coming from players not on their top line.
Kelton Travis started it with a solo effort 6:31 into the first, followed by an avalanche of goals from Scott Desserre, Wacy Sandum, captain Ryan Bell, and a pair from Kale Clouston.
With the game basically over, Travis added his second snipe and Bell registered his second goal in the third.
A.J. Kusu, Brady Skiffington, Ryan Longmuir, Clouston and Sandum each recorded a pair of assists. Zachary Suntjens, Lucas Muenchrath and Riley Romashenko supplied one assist each.
Riley Stovka started in net with Ty Tarvyd getting called up to play with the CFR Chemicals Bisons. He carried a blank slate into the third and finished with 19 saves for his third win.
The Chiefs doubled up the Foothills Bisons 4-2 Nov. 5 at Tom Hornecker Recreation Centre. They led 2-1 after the first frame on goals from Muenchrath and Sandum, and added a pair of second period goals from Chayse Hnatowich and Sandum’s second to ice the Bisons. Isaac Benoit and Skiffington supplied a pair of assists each.
Tarvyd was barely tested, making 13 saves for his sixth win.
The Cranbrook Dynamiters (0-10-0) visit Hussar Arena Nov. 11, puck drop 7:30 p.m. The last time these two teams faced off, the Chiefs blasted the Dynamiters 8-0 in the second game of the year. Nov. 20, the Chiefs are on the road in Red Deer to take on the Elks (3-5-3) at Kinsmen Twin Arenas.

 

Braves drop two
The Wheatland Braves (1-10-1) couldn’t build any momentum following their first win of the season and dropped a pair of weekend bouts.
The local double-A peewee team fell 8-5 to the Red Deer Motors (5-2-3) Nov. 6 at Kinsmen Twin Arenas.
Nolan Mahussier buried two goals; Tyler Fairbairn registered a goal and an assist with remaining goals coming from Tate Yule and Philip Raycroft.
The Braves were dumped 4-2 by the West Central Tigers (5-4-1) Nov. 5 at the Rocky Arena Complex.
Cyle Clayton and Mahussier found the back of the net on passes from Adam Moore and Cole Whelan.
Matthew Dovichak started both games on the weekend and stopped 16 Tigers shots.
A pair of road games this weekend for the Braves as they travel to the Kinsmen Twin Arenas Nov. 12 to tangle with the Red Deer Parkland Transmission (5-3-2) and then battle the Central Alberta Selects (1-5-3) Nov. 13 at the Can Pak Arena 2.