Wheatland teams prepare

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Warriors had the home game against Cranbrook marked on their calendar since the Christmas break, because they knew top spot would be on the line at the Strathmore Family Centre on Feb. 26.
The game lived up to its billing as the local bantam double-A team prevailed with a 3-2 win and secured first place heading into the inaugural playoff tournament in Medicine Hat from March 3-6.
“We’ve been working all year for it,” said Assistant Coach Tyler Brandon.
“That’s the main goal and we accomplished it. The boys are fired up and it was a good close game. Right from the puck drop in the third period we knew what we were going to get. They weren’t going to give up. The boys matched it and there was a couple of key blocks in the last 30 seconds that were key in a one goal game.”
Max Kathol, Anson McMaster and Brandon Kasdorf scored in the win.
The local bantam double-A team would finish off the season with a 4-1 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Strathmore Family Centre on Feb. 28.
Carter Kam, Mo Hakim, Chase Clayton and Keith Yellowfly supplied the offense.
Brandon expects to see more consistency from the team going into the playoff tournament because they can’t afford to take a period off, and if that’s accomplished then he sees the team being dominant throughout the weekend event.
“Everything’s rolling,” said Brandon.
“We play the best when we can just roll all four lines and it’s kind of where we’re at. Now everybody’s going, everybody’s confident in each other and the chemistry is there too.”
Meanwhile, the Wheatland Braves split their last two weekend games to finish second place in the division after a 6-4 loss to Medicine Hat on Feb. 26 and a 7-1 win in Lethbridge on Feb. 28.
Head Coach Carl Knudsen said that despite the loss to Medicine Hat, his team matched up fairly well against the opposition but weren’t quite able to catch up to their strong teamwork and in the end it was difficult to beat.
“I think in the past two games we’ve played Medicine Hat, we know we can play with them and if we’re playing our game, there’s no reason we can’t compete with them,” said Knudsen.
“It’s the mindset we can beat any team in this league if we’re playing as well as we know we can. We’ve had a good couple games here down the stretch before the tournament.”
Matthew Quebec, Tegan Skehar, Joel Ramano and Bryce Benfield scored against Medicine Hat.
However, the team played a solid game against Lethbridge.
Tristan Zandee and Philip Raycroft scored two goals each, while Adam Kirkpatrick, Nolan Mahussier and Trey Gillis added one goal each in the win.
Knudsen said the tournament format is a scary because there is the thought of one bad game could end your season, but, he has been preaching that every game since Christmas has been an important game.
“Everyone’s on board,” said Knudsen”
“That when we’re at our best. We’re a pretty deep team when everyone’s playing as well as I know they can and contributing and moving the puck around and using each other.”
He added that there are some other good teams in the south and it’ll be a challenge, but they’re not focused on one particular team.
The local peewee AA team will be in Lethbridge for the playoff tournament from March 3-6.
Meanwhile, the Wheatland Chiefs ended off the regular season with a 6-4 loss in Medicine Hat on Feb. 26.
Captain Brad Hendricks said it was a loss in a meaningless game, and if anything it will only make them hungry to come out with drive in the opening game of the tournament as hosts.
He added that they’ve utilized the Olympic ice to their advantage, as they play games in Strathmore all year long, and if they can use their speed and strength they will be able to expose teams who aren’t used to the big ice.
“We don’t have a really hard pool but as long as we’re consistent and play our game, we’ll be good,” said Hendricks.
“It’s just a different setting like in the five game you know you can have an off game and you shake it off and have another chance. But in this format you really have to win them all to move on.”
The local midget double-A team began the tournament against Medicine Hat at 9 a.m. and Foothills at 3:30 p.m. on March 3, and Lethbridge at 9 a.m, on March 4 with all tournament games being played at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Check out www.scahl.com for more playoff information.