Wheatland Kings advance to Round 2 of playoffs

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

The Wheatland Kings officially grounded the High River Flyers during their second game of the best-of-three series on Feb. 11, knocking them out of the playoffs and advancing to the second round.

Ron West, head coach for the Kings, said he was excited to see his team finally bring home a win from High River’s arena and keep themselves in the season.

“It was excellent. It was a good feeling, it was something that the boys deserved and it was nice to actually be able to push forward and accomplish the goal, which was getting through the first round of the playoffs,” said West.

“We scored a couple of quick goals and then basically after that, we just kept pushing the momentum. We kept the forecheck going the whole time.”

The Kings ended the best-of-three series with the Flyers 2-0, after defeating them in Game 1 of the series at the Strathmore Arena 5-1, then winning again 6-2 in High River.

West said he went into the second game with a plan for his team and was ready to play the same hand they used to clip the Flyer’s wings on home ice. 

“We had the two-man forecheck going and we kept pushing the momentum and made it tough for them to get out of their zone,” West explained.

“They continued to cough up the puck and they gave us opportunities to score. They only had a couple of times where they had stretch passes where they had shots on net, or we made a small error, maybe in the (defensive zone).”

Despite the score suggesting what looks like an overwhelming victory for the Kings, West said it does not reflect in any sense how the game actually went.

“6-2 doesn’t really show what the score was. It was 3-2 in the third with about 10 minutes left. We had a time out, they were starting to push and I just told the boys to settle down, keep pushing on the forecheck and keep creating opportunities,” he said.  

West commended the Flyer’s goaltender before noting that once the Kings scored their fourth goal, pulling ahead by two points with less than half of the third remaining, it was plain to see the wind had been stripped from the Flyer’s sails.

“Their goaltender was really good. (When) we got the one to make it 4-2, it just kind of deflated that team (and) they kind of knew where they were at and we just put the hammer down on them.”

This season marks the second playoff that West has led his team to compete in. The first year he coached the Kings, the boys made it to the first round, but were knocked out by Medicine Hat. 

Following that season, were the interruptions to their seasons caused by COVID-19. Now, West said he’s playing for keeps. During the upcoming round, however, the Kings will be put through the ringer.

“This is the first time in, I don’t know how long it’s been, since we’ve gotten through the first round and get to go to the second round,” said West.

“We’re up against Okotoks and they are top 10 in the nation. Not in Alberta, in the nation. So basically, it’s David versus Goliath is where we’re at.”

His plan going in is to keep the boys out of the penalty box and on the ice, cautious of having to potentially suffer the Bisons in a 4v5.

Round two of the playoffs will be a best-of-seven series, with game one played on Feb. 15 in Okotoks and game two scheduled for Feb. 18 again at the Murray & Piper Arena. Games three and four will be played on Feb. 19 and Feb. 22 in Strathmore.