Kings lockup home ice advantage for upcoming playoff series

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Agra Risk Wheatland Kings earned home-ice advantage and will open the playoffs against the Cochrane Generals in their first-round series.

The Kings finished the regular season with 46 league points, closing out their schedule with a loss to the Mountainview Colts followed by a win over the Red Deer Vipers on the road Jan. 30-31.

The Generals, who had been neck and neck with the Kings and were vying for second place in the south division, were bested 5-3 by the Okotoks Bisons on Feb. 1, solidifying the Kings home ice advantage. 

“We were in a close battle for second place. We wanted to get that second place home ice advantage if we (could), so winning that last (game) was important,” said Doug Raycroft, head coach of the Wheatland Kings. 

If the Generals had been victorious in their final game and tied the Kings for league points, home ice would have gone to them, as they boasted a stronger record against the Kings throughout the season. 

To date, of the five games the Kings and Generals have played against each other, two have gone to the Kings, and three have gone to the Generals. 

“They are a really solid team, a well-balanced team, so we have to play good, solid defense, be disciplined and stay out of the penalty box for sure. You want to be playing your best hockey so we can beat them,” said Raycroft. “We just want to make sure that we are ready to go and firing on all cylinders as we play them. Playoffs … everybody gets hyped up and some people have trouble handling their emotions and that can be a problem sometimes.”

Raycroft emphasized the importance of discipline for his team as they go through this round of the playoffs. 

Similar to last year, the Kings will debut in the second round of the playoffs, having been granted a first-round bye.

In franchise history, the team has never been able to advance to the division final round.

“Last year, we had our best season ever. We are not quite there … and there is a lot more parity in the league this year. I think our chances going into the playoffs are probably better than last year even though our record was not quite as good,” said Raycroft. “We got a lot younger this year … we feel pretty happy about where we are with our team considering that we lost quite a few really good players from last year’s team.”

The Kings are expected to enter the playoffs with most of their roster intact. However, Luke Nottveit will remain sidelined, as he is still serving a suspension and will be unavailable for at least one more game.