Kings fail to make post season

By Mario Prusina Times Editor

Despite finishing the regular season with a record of over .500, the Wheatland Kings failed to make the postseason for the first time in franchise history. 

In a battle with the High River Flyers for the final playoff spot, the local Junior B team controlled their own destiny after an 8-4 win on Jan. 26 in High River. 

However, since that pivotal game, the Kings went 2-2-1 the rest of the season, which included a crushing 6-2 loss to the Flyers on home ice on Feb. 3.

Meanwhile, the Flyers soared after their Jan. 26 loss, closing out the season with a 7-0 record, finishing the season with 43 points, and locking the final playoff spot in the very tough South Division. 

The Kings, who posted an 18-17-3 record, finished in last place in the division.

“We just let it slip away from us – it’s kind of a disappointing end for sure because we really felt we had a contender of a team,” said head coach Doug Raycroft. “You gotta give your hats off to High River – they got on a run at the right time and got really good goaltending at the end of the year. They’re a solid team and any team in the South can beat any other team in the South (on any given night).”

To show the discrepancy between the North and South Divisions, the Kings finished one point less than Mountainview, the second-place team in the North Division, who earned a first-round bye to start the post season.

The Kings, who were already eliminated from the playoffs, closed out their regular season with a 6-5 overtime road loss to Red Deer on Feb. 17. It also marked the final junior game for three overage players; Kage Yellowfly, Ethan Van Egmond, and Cole Walker. All three players will leave a void on the team going forward.

Yellowfly finished the season with 13 goals and 15 assists for 28 points in 30 games, while Van Egmond closed out the season with eight goals and eight assists in 33 games.

Walker, a stable all-round player, finished the season with four goals and nine assists in 36 games.

“Individually, they are all different,” said Raycroft. “Kage Yellowfly is one of the top players in the league … he’s a goal scorer, a penalty killer and an all-round good defender too.

“Cole Walker was a guy we played on defence and was in and out of the lineup last year, but we moved him to forward this year and he was just a solid player for us.

“Ethan was a solid contributor for us … he scored some goals, has a great shot and (was) a good leader in the dressing room.

“We’re going to miss all three of those guys for sure.”