Kings earn a split the hard way

By Mario Prusina, Times Editor

After suffering a loss to one of the worst teams in the league, the Wheatland Kings responded with a resounding win over one of the top squads.
The local Junior B team stumbled 7-5 to the lowly Rocky Rams on Oct. 19 at the Strathmore Family Centre, before playing a complete game versus the Coaldale Copperheads the following day, en route to a 4-1 home win.
“I just sent the message to the boys in the dressing room there – I think it was the best 60 minutes of hockey we’ve played all year,” beamed head coach Joel Robinson after the win. “I just let them know that (if we play) like that for 60 minutes, and we play a hard 60 minutes, it’s going to be hard to beat a team like us. Especially when we got speed and we’re hard on the forecheck.
“If you go through the lineup tonight, everyone did their job – everyone pulled on the rope.”
Despite the win, the club is looking forward to building and maintaining momentum as the season progresses.
They hope to shake the stigma of losing to teams around or below them in the standings.
“We don’t like to see what happened (on Saturday night), but when you come out and put an effort like that (versus Coaldale) on the board and get a win like that against a top team in the division … that’s a big win for us,” said Robinson. “(Just like) last Friday’s win against Cochrane … these are the important games because when it comes time to play playoffs, we’re going to need these two points.
“It’s unfortunate what happened last night, but tonight’s response was the best thing you could ask for as a coach.”
The Kings used a solid second period, where they built a 3-0 lead over Coaldale. Despite firing 17 shots in the third period, Coaldale couldn’t solve Kings goaltender Brett Willan until the final minute of action.
“The shutout part kind of stings, but the team did good and helped me out a lot,” said Willan. “They really pushed them and we came out with the W. It makes my job a lot easier when there is a team out there to help me out – to get the rebounds if I let them out and clear the zone. It helps out a lot.”
Unfortunately, against the Rams, the Kings build a 3-0 first period lead before the wheels fell off. They allowed four straight second period goals en route to the loss.
“We just didn’t play a full 60 – we came out and played a good 20 in the first period,” said Robinson. “Then we let them bring the game to us and we kind of sat back on our heels cause we had a 3-0 lead … we let them skate around us at times.
“It just wasn’t a full 60 minutes of hockey and in this league, it’s so important; it makes or breaks you.”
The Kings will now take their 4-4-1 record and hit the road for a pair of games beginning with the Airdrie Lightning on Oct. 25, before traveling to Sylvan Lake on Oct. 27.
Their next home game is Nov. 2 (8 p.m.) when they host Stettler at the Strathmore Family Centre.