Peewee Braves rolling early in the season
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Tyler Lowey Photo
In 2007, the Patriots were crushing teams on their way to a perfect 16-0 regular season. Things were going great and the Pats were putting up record numbers, but Belichick kept bringing up things his team needed to improve on – he kept serving them humble pie.
Currently in their best five-game stretch over the past two years, Klemmensen is pleased, but knows there is still a long way to go, even after the Wheatland Braves just dismantled the 1-9-0 Taber Golden Suns 8-2 Oct. 29 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“They’re starting to figure out what playing as a team is like and that it will garner better results than doing things on their own,” said Braves Head Coach Klemmensen. “We aren’t out of the woods by any stretch, but today they showed signs of knowing what it takes to play 60 minutes.”
Leading the way for the rolling Braves (7-3-0) was Conner Radke with two goals and one helper, along with Wyatt Yule, who recorded one snipe and two assists. Adam Moore, Garrin Gosling and Jace Koole all supplied one goal and one assist. Tyler Fairbairn and Luc Trevors picked up the other markers for the Braves, while Connor White made 18 saves between the pipes.
The current hot spell has impressed Klemmensen slightly, but he won’t be fooled by any five-game stretch.
“They’ve gravitated towards our system quicker than we thought they would, but there is still so far to go,” said Klemmensen. “At the end of the day, and no disrespect to anyone, we haven’t beaten anyone above us in the standings yet.”
That’s because winning four of their last five has propelled them to third in the division, behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Medicine Hat Hounds. They are 0-1 against the Hurricanes this season and have only played teams below them in the standings. For the most part, they are taking care of business and beating the teams they need to beat.
Such was the case Oct. 28 at Blackie Arena, when the local double-A peewee team escaped with a 5-4 win over the Foothills Bisons (2-7-1).
The Braves built up a 5-1 lead after two periods on two goals from Kuryk, with, Colton Gabe, Goll and Radke adding singles.
“We played 40 minutes and were lucky enough to hang onto the win against Foothills. It’s those kinds of games that show us there is still work to be done,” said Klemmensen, who stood and watched the Bisons storm back with three goals in the third period.
The Braves will look to continue their growth Nov. 3 (7:30 p.m.) when they take on the Airdrie Lightning White (3-2-2) in their first South Central Hockey League game at Hussar Arena. They wrap up weekend play against the No. 3 seed from the North division Nov. 5, when they take on the Okotoks Oilers Black (5-4-1) at Murray Arena.
Warriors playing with the Hounds
The Wheatland Warriors have deeply enjoyed their time against the Medicine Hat Hounds this season.
In their second meeting of the season, the Warriors trounced the Hounds 6-2 on Oct. 27 at the Moose Recreation Centre. It marked the second time this season the Warriors beat up on the Hounds; they previously hammered the 3-7-1 Hounds 7-4 at home back on Oct. 8.
In the rematch, the local double-A bantam team (4-7-1) put five goals over the first two periods before the Hounds showed signs of life.
Jerrin Hendricks netted a pair of snipes alongside Brayden Ledrew. Ray Warrack opened the scoring on a solo effort in the first and Spencer Tower supplied extra insurance in the third period on the power play from Ryder Many Grey Horses. Corey Ross was only required to stop 19 shots for his second win.
Concluding the weekend, the Warriors were doubled up by the Okotoks Oilers 6-3 Oct. 29 at Murray Arena.
The South division-leading Oilers (6-3-2) built up a 5-1 lead before the Warriors managed to get their offence together.
When they did, Jarrod Schrock and Joel Romano found the back of the net in the second period, to go with Hendricks’ team-leading seventh goal in the first period.
The Warriors hit the road for a pair of games this weekend, starting in Airdrie at the Ron Ebbesen Arena, when they take on the Airdrie Lighting (7-1-1) Nov. 3. Two nights later, they will be at the Rocky Arena Complex to take on the North division-leading West Central Tigers (7-1-2). The Warriors next home game is slated for Nov. 19 when they host the Taber Golden Suns (1-8-1).
Chiefs busy
Last week carried a little bit of everything for the Wheatland Chiefs.
In a rare mid-week game, the CBHA Rangers (4-0-0) shelled the Chiefs 5-1 Oct. 25 at the Max Bell Centre #2.
Austin Juryk provided the only scoring for the Chiefs, when he converted a pass from Zach Suntjens and Lucas Muenchrath at the 14:56 mark of the opening frame. Ethan Rycroft was between the pipes and struggled to make 22 saves on the evening.
The Chiefs then battled Taber to a 6-6 draw on Oct. 27.
Penalties sank the Chiefs late, as Ty Skehar sat for cross checking and Suntjens picked up a boarding major with six minutes remaining, which opened the door for the Taber Golden Suns (3-3-2) to tie the game.
Cole Jensen converted on the power play with 5:09 remaining, tying the game at 6. The score would stand, as the Chiefs picked up their first draw of the season Oct. 27 at the Taber Community Centre.
The Chiefs started like a house on fire, scoring the first four goals of the game in the first, off the sticks of Jaycob Masciangelo, Rylan Longmuir, Suntjens and Kuryk.
Bailey Filkohazy added a power play goal with 8:10 remaining in the second on the power play to give the Chiefs a 5-2 lead heading into the final stanza.
Riley Stovka was peppered in net. His 40 saves were not enough to hold off a Suns squad that stormed back with four third-period goals to pick up the single point in the standings.
Wrapping things up, the local double-A midget team salvaged the week with a convincing 3-1 win over the Medicine Hat Hounds at Centennial Regional Arena.
Tied at one entering the third, goals from Skehar and Ben Kruse powered the Chiefs (6-3-1) to victory.