Kings eyeing up 2018-19 Heritage Junior Hockey League schedule

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The Strathmore Wheatland Kings are ready for the 10th season in franchise history whether or not they have a home rink.
With new members behind the bench and a roster featuring a heavy amount of local talent, the Kings are aiming for a franchise first this season — 20 wins.
Never in the previous nine seasons have the Kings cracked 20 wins. They have only owned a .500 winning percentage or better once (2011-12).
“I think we have a really deep lineup on the back end and up front this year and I think we will turn a lot of heads around the league this season,” said Kings Assistant Coach Chris Williams. “We haven’t talked about our team goals much, but one area we want to target is getting 20 wins. We obviously want to be a playoff team, too, but we want to have a great regular season and push to see how far we can go, and then worry about playoff success.”
Last year the Kings recorded their third-lowest win total with a 12-21-3 record.
The Kings will look to pick up 10 per cent of their 20-win goal the opening weekend in the Heritage Junior Hockey League season with a home-and-home series with the Okotoks Bisons.
“Starting the year off against the Bisons will be good for us. I think it’s a chance for us to surprise them and catch them off guard,” said Williams. “They always have a good program, but we also like the way we are looking right now.”
Last season, the Kings went 1-3 against the Bisons and were outscored 22-17. The Kings didn’t take on the Bisons for a third time until January, while this year, they will face their southern division rivals for a third time by the end of October.
The Strathmore Family Centre is currently undergoing repairs to fix a leaky pipe that is responsible for keeping the ice frozen.
“We have ice booked in Indus if these repairs take longer than expected, but right now we just have our fingers crossed and are hoping for the best,” said Williams.
The Kings started the season much stronger than how they finished it last year. In September, October and November, the Kings went 9-7-1-1.
The Kings will hope they are riding a similar – if not better – wave when they close out the first month of the season with a pair of games.
First, the Kings will host the Stettler Lightning Sept. 28, before heading to Red Deer to take on the defending northern division champion Vipers.
The Vipers swept the season series with the Kings last year with 3-2 and 7-0 victories, while the Kings picked up one of their two overtime victories with a crazy 8-7 decision Oct. 27 at the Stettler Recreation Centre.
The Kings will hope the pipe leak situation has resolved itself by October, as they are slated to host five home games.
Whether it was at home or on the road last year, the Kings didn’t perform up to expectations, as they went 6-11-1-0 at the Strathmore Family Centre and 6-10-1-1 elsewhere.
The first rematch of last year’s first-round playoff series is set for Oct. 21, when the High River Flyers are booked to play in Strathmore.
The Flyers took the season series 3-1 and narrowly outscored the Kings 18-17. In the playoffs, the Flyers swept the Kings in the best-of-three series.
The Kings will see the Three Hills Thrashers Oct. 12. The Thrashers and the Ponoka Stampeders were the only two teams the Kings held a winning record against last season. The Kings first see the Stampeders Nov. 25.
October sees the Kings play in one of three Tuesday night games, when the Bisons are in town Oct. 30.
The Kings were playing their best hockey of the season last year when the calendar flipped from October to November. The team was on a season-high six-game winning streak where they received a hat trick from a different player each win. Duplicating that November hot stretch could be difficult this year, as the Kings will see the defending division champion Coaldale Copperheads three times. Last year, the Kings went 1-3 against the Copperheads and got outscored 15-6.
Because the Banff Academy Bears dropped out following the 2016-17 season, the Kings took on the Cochrane Generals six times, the most of any team. The Generals capitalized on those meetings, as they took the season series 5-1 and outscored the Kings 31-17.
Filling in for the Bears will be the Lomond Lakers, who will open up the season playing in Claresholm before their arena gets ready in Lomond. Like the Family Centre, there is no timetable for the Lomond Arena roof repairs.
November also sees the Kings play a season-high four game road trip and will play six of their eight games on the road.
Last season, the Kings got derailed once the winter months set in, and they only picked up one win in each of December, January and February.
“We noticed that’s where the season fell apart last year,” said Williams. “It’s our job to bring our knowledge into the dressing room and find ways to keep these guys motivated in the long season. We need to build a winning culture by the time playoffs come around.”
The Kings will enter the holiday break with the comfort knowing they will play five of six games in December at the Strathmore Family Centre. Their final game before the break goes Dec. 15, when the Lakers make their way to Strathmore.
January sees the Kings play their only three games in a three-night stretch, when they are on the road Jan. 25 in Cochrane, host the Cubs and finish off the busy stretch with a late afternoon affair in Medicine Hat.
The Kings will close out the season with three games in February, including a pair of home games against the Generals and Lakers to end the season Feb. 8 and 9.