Wheatland Kings starting 2023 off strong

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Wheatland Kings are kicking off 2023 strong as they begin to stack up wins in the opening weeks of the new year.

The Kings took a 5-1 home victory over the Coaldale Copperheads on Jan. 15, as well as two other wins since the league resumed regular play. As of publication, the Kings have played a total of five games since the start of the year.

After suffering a 4-1 road loss in Okotoks on Jan. 13, the Kings scored once in the first period, three times in the second, and their final goal in the third period in their home game versus Coaldale.

In their first home game of the new year, the Kings got off to an explosive start as they took on the Mountainview Colts on Jan. 10.

The Kings immediately claimed first goal roughly 90 seconds into the start of the game and ended the first period 4-0 against the Colts.

In the second period, the visitors ponied up to approach settling the score, with the period ending at 4-3 still favouring the Kings. 

“We haven’t been starting games good, and we started the game really good (against the Colts). Our feet were moving, we took it to them 4-0 after one, so we were really happy about that,” said head coach Doug Raycroft. “In the second period, we had a couple of penalties and they are a good team so they fought their way back and it was a close game.”

The Kings would ultimately survive a barrage of shots on net in the third, and sneak away with a, literally, last minute goal to seal the game at 5-3.

Raycroft added though he was proud of the boys for the game that they played, there is still always more to work on and more to learn from their plays out on the ice. 

“We are still having trouble playing 60 minutes. In the second period we didn’t play very good so that was a problem for us,” he explained. “We got a good start, and the second period was a problem for sure. We played well for about 40 minutes. We still need to get better in our defensive zone and right in front of the net.”

Raycroft added he is excited to have Kage Yellowfly and Phillip Raycroft back on the ice, as the two of them were out due to injuries for a number of games.

With the two of them returned, the impact they have both for the rest of the team and as leading scorers is a noticeable improvement for the Kings overall. 

Raycroft also commended his team’s goalie, Rhett Harten in particular for his performance in the third period, shutting down shot after shot on net and keeping the Kings in the game. 

“Harten made probably made the save of the year. The one play, the one save, the rebound came right out to them, they had an open net and he dove across and made a save, it was beautiful,” he said. “That really saved us. Of course, it was 4-3 and that would have tied it up, so it was kind of a pivotal moment of the third period and then the boys really battled hard and we finished strong.”