Braves go through tough weekend
Tyler Lowey Photo
In taking on the top team from within their division, the local double-A peewee team was taken to the cleaners by the Lethbridge Hurricanes Red in a home-and-home series.
It started Dec. 8 when the Hurricanes blanked the Braves 9-0 at the Adams Ice Centre. Things improved slightly the following afternoon, but the Hurricanes still bested the Braves 7-4 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“We came back today and our kids showed some character by responding to their worst defeat of the season,” said Braves Assistant Coach Stephane Lecavalier. “We got badly outplayed yesterday and made a lot of mistakes. But we had a good third period and built off that going into today’s game.”
A wild first period saw four lead changes, as the Hurricanes headed into the break-up 5-3.
Luc Revors, Jace Koole and Conner Radke found the back of the net for the Braves, while Kolten Kuryk added his 10th of the season in the second period.
“We had a lot more offensive play today, got more pucks on net which created more opportunities, but they were that much better than us and now we have things to work on at practice this week,” said Lecavalier.
Before the Braves could get back to the drawing board, they had one more game to wrap up the weekend with, as they were in Okotoks to take on the Oilers Green.
A three-goal third period by the Oilers (9-8-2) sank the Braves (12-9-0) with a 5-4 final at Murray Arena.
Koole supplied a pair, with Garrin Gosling and Wyatt Yule registering the other markers for the Braves.
Only one game on tap for the Braves this weekend as they host the Medicine Hat Hounds (14-0-0) Dec. 16 at the Strathmore Family Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.
Chiefs playing well
The Wheatland Chiefs are on a roll as the holiday break nears.
A pair of wins last weekend extended their strong play of late into a now four-game winning streak.
To kick things off, the local double-A midget team doubled up the 2-10-4 Red Deer CanPro 4-2 at the Collicutt Centre Arena.
Jayden Hendricks scored his sixth of the season from Ty Skehar in the first on the power play. The Chiefs pulled away for good when Brady Skiffington, Stran Red Crow and Cole Berg scored in succession to close out the third period. Riley Stovka was brilliant in net, recording 38 saves.
The Chiefs (12-6-2) put a bow on the weekend with a 4-0 clean slate against the Foothills Bisons Dec. 10 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
The Bisons (1-17-0) were held to one shot in the first period, as Lucas Muenchrath netted his team-leading ninth goal. In the middle frame, goals came from Bailey Filkohazy, Hendricks and Berg, as Ethan Rycroft only needed 13 saves for the shutout. Rycroft moved into the top five in the South Central Hockey League for save percentage, now sporting a shiny .920 to go with a 2.06 goals against average.
The Chiefs are off this weekend and will drop the puck next on Dec. 20 at the Max Bell Centre #2 in Calgary to take on the CRAA Gold.
Their final game before the Christmas break will take place Dec. 23 against the top-ranked Lethbridge Hurricanes (15-2-4) at the Henderson Ice Centre.
Warriors falter
The Wheatland Warriors (6-10-2) were on the wrong side of a high-scoring affair Dec. 10 at the Bob Snodgrass Recreation Centre.
Playing their first SCAHL game in two weeks, the local double-A bantam team was staked to a 5-1 lead 10 minutes into the second on goals from Joel Romano, Bridger Atkinson, Philip Raycroft, Brandon McGillvary, Ray Warrack and Spencer Tower, but surrendered six unanswered goals to close out the final 30 minutes. The 7-5 win by the division-leading Foothills Bisons improved their record to 13-5-1.
They will surely look to shore things up Dec. 16 when they host the Medicine Hat Hounds (3-12-1) at Hussar Arena (7:30 p.m.).