Braves plagued by inconsistency

Times Reporter   

 

After winning 8-3 against the Lacombe Rockets on Jan. 25, Wheatland Braves Coach Keith Klemmensen thought perhaps that effort would carry onto the next day against the Cranbrook Eagles. It didn’t, as the peewee Braves lost 7-1 at home.

“Winning 8-3 was beating a team that is essentially last place in our division,” Klemmensen said. “We outshot that team good, and I think that was good effort there, but we could kind of see that day that some of the discipline problems and the bad habits of getting stuff done the easy way was accessible.”

There were seven powerplay goals in the game, four of which by Wheatland; there were 26 penalties handed out in total between the two teams. Though the score was tied after the first period, the Braves scored three in the second and never looked back, with 45 shots on net.

Ben Slemp, Chase Clayton, Connor Bertamini, Mitch Desserre and Kyle Crnkovic had two-point nights, while Eric Sandum and Tarun Fizer had three each.

Against Cranbrook, Fizer had the lone goal, to add to his team-leading 44 points in 27 games. The Braves only managed 17 shots on net.

“They got behind, and to simply tell you, they quit,” Klemmensen said. “It was a complete lack of effort. I had other people doing effort evaluations yesterday. The players didn’t know this was happening, and they completely crapped the bed. We’ve got maybe three or four guys that are playing anywhere close to what they’re capable of.”

The Braves have their next game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Jan. 31; they defeated them 3-1 earlier in the season on Dec. 1. Klemmensen says they have a chance for a win.

“I think if they come and try, but to be honest, I don’t know who’s going to show up (on the ice),” he said. “They’re just not trying, they don’t want to make that extra effort to catch the pass. I’ve got some scared guys – I don’t know why they’re scared, there’s no body checking. But they don’t want contact, and it’s really starting to show. It’s going to lead to a quick exit.”

The Wheatland peewees are fifth in their division with a 12-12-3 record.

 

Bantam winning streak over

The Wheatland Warriors defeated the Lethbridge Hurricanes at home on Jan. 25, with Joel Krahenbil opening the scoring shorthanded. Though Lethbridge tied it up, Kyle Merkosky took the lead again. Lethbridge once more, made it 2-2 with a late powerplay goal in the second period. Chase Hnatowich scored two for the bantam Warriors in the third for the lead and the 4-2 win. However, the next night was the Warriors’ first loss since Nov. 10.

Against the Red Deer Ramada, the Warriors went down 2-0. Lucas Muenchrath brought Wheatland within one, but Red Deer added another in the third. The final was 3-1, even with the Warriors putting 44 shots on net. Their next game is Jan. 31 against the Bow Valley Timberwolves in Cochrane.

 

Midget split

Losing 2-0 to the Lethbridge Hurricanes at home on Jan. 24, Cody Willis brought the midget Wheatland Chiefs within one. Following another Lethbridge goal, Quinton Peplinski and Jayden Smith rallied the Chiefs to tie the game, but the Hurricanes took the lead with seven minutes remaining in the game. The final was 4-3. Two nights later, the Chiefs destroyed the Medicine Hat Venom, 8-3. The Chiefs were up 4-1 after 20 minutes with goals from Jayden Smith, Taylor Donner (who finished with five points), and two from Thomas Reinhardt. Reinhardt completed the hat-trick in the second, while Cody Willis had his own hat-trick, all in the third period. The next midget game is Jan. 31 in Hussar against Cranbrook.