Wheatland Chiefs take third at provincial championship

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

The Wheatland Chiefs took home bronze medals at the conclusion of the U18AA provincial tournament in Calgary on April 3, soundly defeating the Wainwright Polar Kings, 5-1. 

According to Chiefs head coach Colton Grant, it was a pretty good feeling to take home a win after the last game of the season and to finish on the podium, despite not winning the whole tournament.

“It’s always tough in these things. A bronze medal is kind of tough sometimes but we wanted to win this thing, this is what we came for, to win the last game of the season,” said Grant. “To win a bronze medal, it means something to us and anytime you can go out winning the last game is a good feeling. It was a big win for the boys.”

Grant said throughout the tournament his team excelled in setting the pace to play against most of the teams they went up against and the steady pressure is often what would lead them to victory. 

Particularly during the finale for determining third and fourth place, the Chiefs often kept the Polar Kings out of reach from the goal, all the while more than doubling their shots on net.

“I think we started really good, I think we put the pressure on them, we limited their shots all (game) long, they had a hard time getting to our net and that was a big factor,” said Grant. “We frustrated them offensively and we just bided our time, we kept chipping away and finally in the third period, the dam broke and we started putting goals in the net.”

The Polar Kings finally came crashing down in the middle of the third period. With roughly 10 minutes left in the game, they incurred a five-minute major as well as a two-minute penalty simultaneously. 

The two-man advantage gave the Chiefs all the space they needed to claim two more goals before the Polar Kings were back to full strength.

“It was a turning point and took a little wind out of their sails. We were able to capitalize on it, which is huge,” said Grant. “To actually be able to score some goals off of that makes a big difference and that was the nail in the coffin towards the end of the game.” 

Regarding the team as a whole, he added the boys have been exceptional in coming together and gelling since early on in the season, which Grant attributes much of their success to. 

Particularly in a tournament setting as demanding as provincials, he explained, it made all the difference in climbing the ladder. 

The Chiefs opened the tournament on March 31 with a 7-5 loss at the hands of the NWCAA Stamps. It was no April Fools joke on April 1 as the Chiefs played two games, falling 5-4 to the CAC Butchers and Packers and defeating the CRAA Blue 3-0 in the evening. Wheatland earned a hard-fought 2-2 draw versus Polar Kings on April 2.

The championship was determined by the Top 2 teams battling for gold, while the third and fourth seeds competed for bronze.

“You come to these tournaments and every single team here has won their league. They’re here for a reason,” said Grant. “It’s playoffs, everyone is banged up … you get everything from some referees here and there, some bad bounces and there’s always adversity. It’s about how you respond to it. It’s a challenge playing two games in one day and these guys are young men, they hammer each other on the ice.”

Grant said there are likely going to be lessons learned from this season that will carry over into the next, but for now he just encourages his team to celebrate their achievement and the experience.