Disecting the 2017-18 Kings

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The Strathmore Wheatland Kings were flying high and feeling like they had arrived as a team to be reckoned in the Southern Division.
And then they fell off a cliff.
In the second year with the new regime behind the bench and in the front office, the Kings opened the season with a bang, when they clubbed their perpetual bully, the Cochrane Generals, 6-2 in the season opener Sept. 23. From there, they went on to record a brilliant start to the season, going 8-3-1 with a plus-18 goal differential in the first two and a half months of the slate.
During that stretch, the Kings certainly enjoyed beating up on the lower-seeded teams from the north, such as the Ponoka Stampeders, Stettler Lightning and Three Hills Thrashers. But they also were hanging with the big dogs, and beat the defending provincial champion Red Deer Vipers 3-2 on Oct. 1, knocked off their future playoff opponent High River Flyers 8-3 Nov. 3 and even shaved the Okotoks Bisons — another perpetual franchise bully — 6-4 on Nov. 7.
“It was a fun dressing room back then. Everyone had big smiles and was happy to be at the rink,” said Kings captain Keenan Ogle. “Everyone bought into the system and teammates weren’t worried about individual success and were playing selfless hockey. It’s amazing to see how much easier the puck goes in the back of the net when you play that way.”
The Kings were limousine-riding and jet-flying, and having no trouble putting the puck in the back of the net. They set a franchise record by registering a hat trick in five straight games, coming off the sticks of four different players.
Following their impressive only victory against the Bisons, rookie winger Garrett Vander Ploeg brought up the idea that teams would have to start looking out for the Kings on their schedule.
Impossible to scientifically prove, but Vander Ploeg inadvertently jinxed his team, as the Kings went on to lose their next six and drop nine out of their next 10.
Realistically, things reached a tipping point when Matt Thomson, one of the leading scorers on the Kings, was involved in an incident with an off-ice official Nov. 18 during a 7-0 clubbing by the Vipers. Thomson was suspended by the team until a hearing by Hockey Alberta, but Thomson decided to leave the team to play for the Airdrie Techmation Thunder.
“The Thomson thing definitely shook guys up I think. It’s tough to pinpoint what went wrong, but we definitely lacked effort by quite a few guys. It’s tough to win when you only have eight guys going on the ice,” said Kings Manager Darcy Busslinger.
Those who were left on the Kings tried every trick in the book to get off the schneid: extra work at practice, shaving parts of facial hair, finding time to mentally relax away from the rink and roster changes were even made. Nothing could right the ship.
A win in their first game of 2018 against the division-winning Coaldale Copperheads briefly stopped the slide, as the Kings closed out the season falling in 10 of their last 11 matchups.
The Kings record following the win over the Bisons plummeted to 4-18-2, as they only averaged 1.80 goals for, while allowing 5.29 goals against per game, for a minus-84 goal differential.
“There was an attitude change in our dressing room. When the going got tough, no one was willing to get a little tougher. Between Tommy quitting and a couple other guys jumping ship, it became more about the individual than an attempt to get the team better,” said Ogle. “If the weather was mediocre or there was a (Calgary) Flames game on, guys wouldn’t show up to practice to try and work on things to make us better.”
Only the ghastly Three Hills Thrashers finished with a worse record during that stretch, which dated back to Nov. 17. The Thrashers clunked through their remaining 27 games only winning once, and sported an unheard-of minus-177 goal differential.
Of course, there were some break-out performances on the roster this season.
Chayse Hnatowich was the top-scoring rookie and ranked second on the squad with 14 goals and 18 points. The graduating George Montour destroyed his previous total with the Kings by leading the team with 14 goals and 23 assists. Austin Holmes caught fire in the second half to finish with 11 goals and 23 points, a personal best, and Calum Humble turned in a great performance between the pipes despite his 1-6 record. Since joining the Kings Dec. 23, Humble faced more than 40 shots four times and twice in the playoffs, and still managed to earn a 3.41 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
Despite whatever plagued the Kings during the back half of their season, the team seemed relatively optimistic about their chances in the playoffs, having drawn the High River Flyers and avoiding the likes of Coaldale, Okotoks and Cochrane.
“Not having … Montour and (Nolan) Lightning definitely hurt us. We still aren’t sure what happened to those guys. They just up and left,” said Busslinger.
The Kings played hard, received great goaltending from Calum Humble, but couldn’t put the puck in the back of the net when it mattered most. And for the second straight season and fifth time in franchise history, the Kings failed to exit the opening round of the Heritage Junior Hockey League playoffs.
For the Kings, it’s another longer-than-anticipated offseason, as they cleaned out their lockers at the Strathmore Family Centre. For the first time in three seasons, the Kings enjoyed having the same coaching staff for more than one season. When asked if he was planning on returning next year, Head Coach Shadoe Stoodley declined to comment on the topic.
“We are hoping everyone comes back, but those guys are starting to get little ones now and it’s a big commitment to be a part of this team regardless of the job,” said Busslinger. “We will get together sometime soon here and figure out who will be back for next season.”
The Kings will put a bow on the 2017-18 season once and for all when they host their annual wind up banquet March 16 at the Strathmore Family Centre.