Kings drop a pair on the road

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Playing in their second all-road weekend of the season, the Strathmore Wheatland Kings found themselves back to their losing ways.
The Kings recently bucked a six-game slide with a sound 9-1 victory over the Three Hills Thrashers on Dec. 10, but fell off the wagon with a pair of Southern Divisional losses last weekend.
The High River Flyers (15-9-3) offence couldn’t be contained, as they fired 53 shots the Kings way, en route to the 6-4 decision Dec. 15 at the Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex.
After being outshot 26-6 in the opening frame, the Kings weathered the storm and only trailed 3-1, as Hayden Vander Ploeg set a career-high with his sixth goal of the season.
“I’m just trying to get as many pucks on net as I can, they just happen to be going in this season and hopefully it keeps going,” said Kings alternate captain Vander Ploeg.
In the blink of an eye, the Kings took the lead in the second period with a trio of goals coming 1:30 into the second stanza inspired by an intermission speech from assistant coach Braden Desmet, outlining ways of improvement for this club. Chayse Hnatowich buried a solo effort, while Austin Holmes scored a pair 27 seconds apart from George Montour.
Liam Bollivar converted a pass from Devon Barlow and Egor Sinko with just under five minutes remaining in the second to tie the game heading into the third.
Third periods have been a hot button issue this season, and plagued the Kings once again, as they surrendered a pair of goals late in the game.
Any time a team gets 47 saves out of their backup netminder, they should be thrilled. Cole Bright was incredibly busy but still got slapped with his fourth loss of the season.
“He played unbelievable. We simply cannot give up that many shots,” said Vander Ploeg. “We need to start blocking shots, picking up our play and keeping the puck in the other end longer.”
Things didn’t get much better the following night in Medicine Hat, as the Kings lost to the last place Medicine Hat Cubs 4-3 at Kinplex Arena.
Tied at three late in the game, Matt Clement scored his second goal of the game from Noah Irvine and Quinten Karg with 31 seconds remaining in regulation to deprive the Kings of at least walking away from the weekend with one point.
The Kings (10-11-2) controlled the defensive zone much better by only allowing 30 shots. This time it was Indiana Kelly’s turn in net. His 26 saves weren’t enough to win, as he fell to 9-8 on the season.
Kings captain Keenan Ogle netted his sixth of the year 48 seconds into the middle frame from Bradley Tingey. Local product Ryan Grasdahl chipped in with his second of the season from Jaden Doiron and Kody Hammond with 7:33 remaining in the period.
Garret Vander Ploeg bagged his eighth of the season one minute into the third, temporarily giving the Kings the lead. But a power play goal by Noah Irvine set the table for Clement’s late-game heroics.
The loss to the Cubs (9-14-0) would have been even more impactful last year. This year, with the Banff Academy Bears dropping out of the Heritage Junior Hockey League, all six teams from the South will qualify for postseason play. If the Bears were still around, the Kings would only be four points up on the Cubs for the final playoff spot.
The Kings will hold their final game before the holiday break on Dec. 23 when they host the Cubs in a rematch at the Strathmore Family Centre. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m. The Kings will resume HJHL action on Jan. 6 when they take on the Coaldale Copperheads (13-9-1) at Coaldale Arena.