Kings toppled in tightly played weekend set
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Tyler Lowey Photo
Skating three rookies, the Kings dropped a pair of tightly played contests.
Jayden Hendricks and A.J. Kusu play on the Wheatland Athletic Association midget Chiefs this season and spent time with the Kings this past weekend. Skylar Running Rabbit also made his debut with the Kings, but plays for the South East Athletic Club M15 Tigers this season.
Hendricks was the only Chief in the lineup Jan. 12 when the Kings saw a tidal wave of penalties sink them 4-2 late in the third period against the High River Flyers at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Everything was looking great for the Kings. The Kings leading rookie Chayse Hnatowich tipped in a point shot from Grady White at the side of the net in the second. Early in the third, George Montour’s shot on the power play was blocked, but Austin Holmes was close enough to gather the rebound and bury one past Dylan Jensen.
Staked to a 2-1 lead, the very next shift saw Jakob Jefferies and Davis Sheldon take off on a two-on-one, but it was denied by Indiana Kelly.
“Everyone in the room thought we outplayed them. We were outplaying them, but we just ran into some penalty trouble late and they capitalized,” said Kings alternate captain Brenden Moore. “It was super frustrating.”
With Hnatowich already in the box for tripping, Kody Hammond got called for high sticking, sending the Flyers (17-11-3) to a crucial five-on-three power play.
Devon Barlow blasted a shot from the blue line with 50 seconds remaining in Hnatowich’s minor. The Kings managed to kill off Hammond’s infraction, but as the penalized player was returning to action, Joel Nalder roofed one from the right faceoff dot past Kelly for the eventual winner.
Moore had a chance late to tie it, jumping in on a rush with less than a minute remaining while short-handed, but his snap shot was easily turned away by Jensen for one of his 24 saves.
With 31 seconds remaining in regulation, the Flyers converted on a Cole Busslinger roughing minor to seal the deal.
Unable to knock off the second-place team in the Southern Division, the Kings needed a better effort to try and dethrone the No. 1 seeded Cochrane Generals (18-11-1) the following night on the road.
The 3-2 loss Jan. 13 at Spray Lakes Family Sports Centre saw Heritage Junior Hockey League debuts for Running Rabbit and Kusu. Hendricks was playing in his third HJHL game, having debuted back on Dec. 16.
Pointless in his first two attempts, Hendricks pushed across his first career goal at the 15:10 mark of the second stanza from Montour.
Kusu also notched his first career point, as his shot on a two-on-one rush with Hammond rebounded perfectly onto the former rookie of the year’s stick and was fired home.
“All three played really well this weekend. We just told them to have fun and don’t worry about any added pressure. They were here to play hockey and work hard, and they did that,” said Hammond.
Through 21 games with the Chiefs of the South Central Alberta Hockey League, Hendricks is third on the team with nine goals and 14 points. Kusu has three goals and 13 points in 24 games, while defenceman Running Rabbit has one point in 23 Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League games this season.
Hammond’s tap-in was only his third goal of the season. Last year in a breakout rookie campaign, he notched 11 goals and 22 assists in 36 games. This year through 24 games, he only has 14 points.
“I got off to a bit of a slow start in the first half of the season. For me to get going, I need to win more battles in the corner, work a little harder and the goals will come,” said Hammond, who now has five points in his last eight games.
The Kings (11-14-2) battled in the third period, but couldn’t push one across.
“We have a short memory on this team. These games didn’t go our way this weekend, but we will forget about them and be back at the rink next weekend,” said Hammond.
On tap for the Kings is a three-game set this weekend, begining with a home-and-home series with Okotoks Bisons (17-9-2) Jan. 19 at Murray Arena and Jan. 20 (4 p.m.) at the Family Centre. The Kings will the host the Coaldale Copperheads (17-9-2) Jan. 21.