Wheatland embarks on 25th season

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

While the colour of their hockey socks were different, they all wore the same jersey for the Wheatland Warriors in their exhibition tournament last weekend at the Strathmore Family Centre, kicking off the 25th season of Wheatland hockey.
There was a little more buzz around this camp, as the local double-A bantam team begin their South Central Alberta Hockey League title defence.
“It bodes well for the organization and creates a little bit more excitement in the arena after winning last year,” said Warriors head coach Cody Brown.
The Warriors selected players for three games while coaches try to figure out who they will take for the South Central Alberta Hockey League season. They finished the weekend going 1-1-1.
The Warriors tied the Calgary Buffs 3-3 Friday night, conquered the Foothills Bison 8-2 Saturday morning, and fell 2-0 to the Okotoks Oilers Saturday evening.
Kobe Gosling led the Warriors with two goals and two assists, while Austin Kuryk netted three goals, Nolan Bailey supplied a goal and two helpers and Carter Murdick bagged a pair of goals.
“These games were a little bit of a faster pace for the kids and we wanted to see how they reacted in a different dynamic,” said Brown.
Cody’s father, Murray Brown, is entering his fourth season as president of Wheatland Athletic Association and prides himself with advancing players in their young careers.
“We got a lot of talent here; we will only have two returning players from last year,” he said. “We strive to send our guys to AAA. We only want to see them for one year.”
Returning from the championship squad are Keith Yellowfly and goaltender Logan Grant.
“At a tournament like this, we were more concerned on how guys fit in rather than the score,” said Cody Brown. “We want to see where the new guys are sitting and try out different line combos.”
The Warriors held an inner squad game and selected players from that to play in the tournament. There was a final practice Monday night with final cuts made afterwards.
The Warriors open the season on the road at Murray Arena in Okotoks, Friday, Sept. 23. The Warriors play their first home game against the West Central Tigers Sunday, Sept. 25.
While the bantam and midget teams are still slimming down their roster size, the peewee Wheatland Braves have their team locked in for the season following their exhibition tournament in Okotoks last weekend.
Unlike other coaches, Keith Klemmensen didn’t hand pick any players; he had his team selected for him by a group of highly respected and trusted individuals.
“I prefer not to have coaches pick their team, I let outsiders pick,” said Klemmensen. “I had a group of about five experienced hockey guys not associated with Wheatland come down and take a look. They don’t have any kids in the program or an axe to grind; they are just hockey lovers.”
The Braves didn’t fare much better than the Warriors, losing 8-3, 8-3 and 8-5, but just like Brown and his crew, Klemmensen could care less about the score at this point.
“I just watched to see the potential in guys and where they can get to going forward,” said Klemmensen.
Now with the team selected, the Braves will have plenty of practice time available before their home opener against the Olds Grizzlys Sept. 23 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“Right now, I’m just going to focus on building foundations. We will practice twice on Saturday and move forward from there,” said Klemmensen.
Meanwhile, the Wheatland Chiefs midget AA team’s training camp began Sept. 12 at the Strathmore Family Centre.