Kings defence leads to more offence

By Mario Prusina, Times Editor

Backed by a solid defensive game, the Wheatland Kings offence was clicking on all cylinders going into the team’s second weekend of action.
After allowing six goals against in the season opener, the Kings returned to the ice and posted a 5-0 victory over Lomond on Sept. 27, before returning the next night versus the High River Flyers, defeating them 5-2. The third game of the weekend – scheduled for Sept. 29 versus Coaldale – was postponed because of the snowstorm.
All in all, it was the way head coach Joel Robinson wanted his team to respond after a tough game to start the season.
“The game against Lomond we came out and had a really good first period and we just kind of built off of that to start the weekend, which is nice because sometimes you have a bad first period and it kind of drags throughout the weekend,” said Robinson. “But the boys came out and played really well on Friday night and an even better team game on Saturday, so we were pretty happy as a coaching staff.”
Kody Hammond scored three times and Lucas Muenchrath registered three assists, as the Kings broke out against the Lomond Lakers, outshooting them 51-19 in the process. Keenan Cunningham and Jaycob Masciangelo also tallied for the Kings, while Landen Brassard picked up the shutout.
The following night, Muenchrath and Garret Vander Ploeg each picked up five points and Hammond added three assists to pace the Kings. Brassard registered 31 saves on 33 shots, as the Kings scored twice in the first period, once in the second and two more in the third to pick up the win.
“Both nights, I think our d-men supported each other really well,” said the coach. “They were making good D-to-D passes and creating space for themselves … good defence led to good offence. When we had our chances, we capitalized on them.”
The Kings will now hit the road for the first time this season when they travel to Okotoks to take on the always tough Bisons on Oct. 4 (8 p.m.). The team will return home the following night when they host Medicine Hat (8 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“We have a tough weekend ahead,” said Robinson. “What I found last year is that you can be a .500 club to be a playoff team, but I think we want to be better than that. I think what this (past) weekend showed me is that the team we have really wants to make that push (to be better than .500) and see what we can do. There has always been kind of a stigma to us that we’re just an average team, but I think this year we have an above average team.
“I think we have the right pieces to the puzzle – we have toughness, but we have the smart toughness, we have our goal scoring. We have a solid team.”