Kelly keeps Cubs at bay

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

Brady Hoover has been bailing out the Strathmore Wheatland Kings all season.
On Jan. 6, he went down awkwardly four minutes into the first period and left the game.
Insert rookie netminder Indiana Kelly.
Kelly was named the Kings (11-15-3) started for their first home game of the New Year when they play host to the Medicine Hat Cubs (6-19-6) the next night at the Strathmore Family Centre.
The Kings were shorthanded four times in the opening frame, but great pressure and stick work forced many of the Cubs’ shots to come from the perimeter.
“The closer they get to the net, the more the puck moves around and the more plays they can make,” said Kelly. “If the shots are coming from the outside, I have more time to track them and react.”
Scoreless after the opening frame, alternate captain Brenden Moore grabbed Brandon Stahl from a scrum and started feeding the winger his lunch. For his malfeasance, Moore was assessed a fighting major and instigating minor, sending the Cubs to the power play for seven minutes.
The Kings carried the play whenever they weren’t shorthanded, as they led 33-26 in shots after two scoreless frames.
Hayden Vanderploeg spotted Kody Hammond streaking through the neutral zone when he hit him with a sharp two-line pass. Quickly breaking in on net, Hammond – who had already racked up 16 minutes in penalties – made a simple right-to-left move, getting free on the backhand and roofing it to break the tie.
Finding an odd way to celebrate the go-ahead goal, Matt Thomson picked a fight with Nolan Acton. The two were kicked out of the game. Thomson and Moore will each miss the next game after fighting for the third time this year.
The lead stood for nearly 10 minutes, when the Kings flawless penalty kill finally bent.
After killing eight-straight power play chances, the Cubs tied it on the five-on-three at the 14:25 mark when captain Keegan Bartram tipped in a point shot from Alex Engel.
A scoreless overtime saw the two teams head to a shootout, which hasn’t been too kind to either team this season. The Kings were 0-2 and the Cubs were 0-3 in the skills competition.
Shooting first, Stahl came down the ice, deked wide and deposited it into the open net.
Kings captain Keenan Ogle came down and sniped a low blocker.
After two more saves by Kelly, second-year forward Zachary Meadows ended it with a goal reminiscent to Ogle’s.
“I came in and I thought the five-hole was going to be there. But as I got closer to the net, I could see the whole right side open,” said Meadows.
Hoover was injured against the No. 2 ranked Heritage Junior Hockey League team and perpetual Kings’ bully, the Cochrane Generals (25-4-1).
“I thought he played great last night,” said Kings head coach Shadoe Stoodley. “There were probably one or two goals that were a little soft, but he faced 60 shots and came up with plenty of big saves.”
Entering the beehive, Kelly faced 60 shots, stopping 54 of them as the Generals skated to a 6-3 win at the Spray Lakes Family Sports Centre.
Coming off the holiday break, the Kings led 1-0 after a first period which Stoodley thought was their best period all season, but the wheels got dislodged from the tracks in the second, as the Generals poured in five goals on 25 shots.
“After the second, I just went out in the hallway and took a minute to relax and refocus,” said the Calgary product Kelly.
The Kings hosted the Banff Academy Bears Bears (7-19-2) Jan. 10. Next, they take on the High River Flyers (6-21-2) Jan. 13 at the Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex.