Late penalty trouble costs Chiefs at home

By Brady Grove, Times Reporter

Victory in Strathmore was not to be had for the Wheatland Chiefs as an undisciplined third period decimated their momentum, leading to a 4-3 loss against the NWCCA Stamps on Oct. 5.
Four of the five Chiefs penalties came in the third period.
“I thought our effort and game in the first period was great, that was exactly the style of hockey we want to play,” said Chiefs Head Coach Matt Gregory. “But we kind of got away from that in the second and third.”
The local double-A midget team started off strong and controlled the play with board-rattling hits and a smooth breakout. This led to a 2-1 lead for the home team with goals from Tyren Grimsdale and Chase Clayton.
The Chiefs carried the strong play into the second period. They continued to hammer the opposition with hits and shots, but the Stamps found a hole in the Chiefs attack and with a quick break, slipped past the defenders and snuck a sharp angle shot past Chiefs goaltender Landon Brassard, breaking their momentum.
Despite the Stamps quick goal, the Chiefs responded on the next play with forward Steve Wilks heroically deking his way through multiple Stamps defenders to shovel one past the opposition goalie to retake the lead. The Stamps had a chance to tie it up at the end of the third period but Brassard made a huge stop with one of his own defenders sliding into his net.
In the third, the Stamps began to take over the game with the Chiefs struggling to break into the offensive zone. Penalty trouble would lead to two power play goals against, including a questionable late cross-checking call against Chiefs defenceman Clayton.
“It’s tough, there’s definitely some bad habits we need to clean up,” said Gregory. “We don’t want to be taking those penalties but it’s something we will definitely address.”
Veteran Chiefs forward Stran Redcrow echoed his coach’s words about finding a way to stay out of the box.
“I think the penalties really killed us,” said Redcrow. “We went back to our bad habits.”
The Chiefs rallied the next night on the road against the Olds Grizzlies, taking the game 2-1. The Chiefs outshot the Grizzlies by 13 with Braden Tanner and Jaycob Masciangelo lighting the lamp.
The weekend split maintained the Chiefs at a .500 record of 2-2. The Chiefs next game is on the road against the Medicine Hat Hounds on Oct. 13.
In other Wheatland hockey action, the Wheatland Warriors skated to a 2-2 draw against the Okotoks Oilers in Strathmore on Oct. 7.
Every time the local double-A bantam team would take the lead the Oilers would respond to keep it tied. Warriors forward Cole Grant opened the scoring in the first period and Brandon McGillivray added the final Warriors goal early in the second.
Up next for the Warriors is a road trip to face the Medicine Hat Hounds on Oct. 13 and the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Oct. 14.
The peewee AA Wheatland Braves were off this weekend. They hit the road again late this week to play the Lethbridge Hurricanes White on Oct. 12.