Warriors take provincial championship

By Mario Prusina Times Editor

Despite having a bullseye on their back from the start of the season, the Wheatland Warriors capped off a fantastic campaign with a provincial championship on March 24 in Calgary.
After winning the SCAHL championship earlier this month, the local double-A bantam team claimed the 2019 Bantam AA Provincial Championship by going 3-0-1 in the round robin portion of the tournament en route to the gold medal win.
“The boys came to play – we knew we had a tenacious team and that’s kind of what we’ve thrived on all year,” said Warriors head coach Cody Brown. “We outwork (teams) and try and work them out of the rink. From the first game of the tournament all the way through until the end, (we) came to work. It was commanding all the way through, so we stuck to our game plan, and that’s exactly what we wanted to see. I’m real proud of the boys.
“When you see them keep pushing and pushing and pushing – don’t take no for an answer, it’s really surreal to see a group like that, especially kids 13-14 (years old) that really want it that bad.”
The Warriors opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over the CNHA Kings on March 21 before defeating the Sherwood Park Leafs 6-3 and the Calgary Wranglers 2-1 the following day.
The Warriors closed out the round robin portion of the tournament against the Lakeland Panthers on March 23. With both teams earning a berth in the gold medal game with a 3-0 record going into the contest, the game was a good dress rehearsal for the championship game the following day. In fitting fashion, the game ended in a 4-4 draw, setting the table for the gold medal game.
In the final, the Warriors carried a 2-0 lead into the third period, before exchanging goals en route to a 3-1 win.
“I think we really came out to play this weekend and we didn’t stop once we got ahead,” said Captain Tate Yule. “That’s what really brought us here … you have to bear down and work hard. We battled every game and we didn’t let them have a sniff.”
The Warriors finished the regular season with 36-4-1 record before sweeping the south championship tournament with a 5-0 record. The team dispatched the West Central Tigers in two games in the league championship to win a berth in the provincial championship.
Overall, including the regular season, playoffs and provincials, the Warriors posted an astonishing 47-4-2 record. According to Brown, having the bullseye on their back was a motivating factor.
“It was good – being one of those teams that everyone was gunning for, that helped us a lot,” said Brown. “You have to show up every day, it doesn’t matter who you are playing, and the boys realized that. It takes a lot, like I said, being 13-14, to be mature enough to realize you have to come to work every day – it doesn’t matter where we sit in the standings, so that was great to see.”