Warriors undefeated weekend

Times Reporter   

 

A game that went back and forth for 60 minutes resulted in a tie for the bantam Wheatland Warriors against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Jan. 4, by a score of 5-5. Rylan Longmuir had two goals; Brady Skiffington and Ryan McHarg had two helpers.

“We definitely weren’t very happy with the performance in Lethbridge. We thought there were too many passengers in the game,” Warriors coach Mark Laycock said. “We pulled out a 5-5 tie, but we were probably lucky to pull out a 5-5 tie.”

Laycock believes his players didn’t want to win badly enough, but turned it around the next day against the Badlands Longhorns, winning 11-0 at home.

“They wanted to come out showing that they were ready to play. After Christmas, I think not playing a game in a couple weeks, we weren’t quite prepared to go back to work yet,” Laycock said.

Warriors goalie Ty Tarvyd only needed to stop 10 shots, while Wheatland put 68 on the Longhorns’ net. Ty Skehar, Chayse Hnatowich, and Kyle Merkosky each had three point nights; the latter has 41 points in 24 games, earning him fifth in the league in scoring.

“I think we’ve been pushing that intensity is going up,” Laycock said. “We’re going to have a lot of hockey here over the next couple months. They should be motivated. We’re top of the league right now but it’s hard to stay there.”

The bantams are 21-1-2 with 148 goals for and 46 against.

 

Chiefs split

In a matchup against the Taber Golden Suns in Hussar on Jan. 3, the midget Wheatland Chiefs were victorious 6-3. Though Taber opened the scoring and had a 3-2 lead by the end of the second, the third period was all Chiefs, who scored four goals including one on the powerplay. Wheatland had 51 shots on net, which resulted in a three-point night for Taylor Donner, and a two-goal night for Cole Busslinger.

Two days later, the Chiefs dropped to the Okotoks Oilers 4-2; coincidentally, Chiefs goalie Mike Conrad faced 51 shots. Wheatland had 20 minutes in the box, which led to two Okotoks powerplay goals. Blair Roszell and Coltyn Herman scored for the Chiefs; Herman leads the team with 36 points in 22 games, though with three less games played, Cody Willis is right behind with 34 points. Both are top ten in league scoring.

The midgets are now 14-6-2 for the season, and tied for first in the North Division with 30 points. The Red Deer Indy Graphics also have 30 points, but have played one less game.

 

Braves butchered

Ethan Phan had the peewee Wheatland Braves’ lone goal in their 6-1 loss at home on Jan. 5 to the Sylvan Lake Lakers. The Braves had only nine shots on net, while Wheatland’s Ethan Rycroft stopped 19 of 25 shots. The peewees hope to improve their 9-11-3 record against the Foothills Bisons on Jan. 11.