Chiefs ready for redemption in 2017
Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter
The Wheatland Chiefs came back from the holiday break with a bit of a target on their back.
After cruising through the South Central Alberta Hockey League with a 12-game winning streak stretching from the end of October to mid December, teams like the Taber Golden Suns (8-9-6) are going to get a little more fired up when they take on the division-leading Chiefs (19-2-2).
That’s exactly what happened Jan. 7 at the Taber Community Centre, when the local double-A midget team and Golden Suns skated to a 3-3 tie.
“I thought Taber played well,” said Chiefs assistant coach Matt Gass. “We came out as I expected us to come out after the holiday break. It took a little bit for us to get into the flow of things again.’’
Zachary Suntjens sniped the Chiefs first goal of 2017 at the 9:47 mark in the opening frame from Riley Romashenko and Adrian Kusu.
Romashenko added an unassisted marker on the power play in the second period, but the Golden Suns matched the Chiefs with a pair of snipes.
“We’re at that point of the season now where teams are game planning for us,” said Gass. “They get their No. 1 goalie in. Taber had a system in place and they executed it.”
The Suns broke the tie midway through the third when Zach Trempner found the back of the net.
With just over six minutes remaining, the league’s leading scorer and Whitecourt Wolverines prospect Isaac Benoit took over.
Playing with Kale Clouston for the first time this season, the two were clicking early and finally got rewarded when the Chiefs needed it the most.
Clouston made a great pass up to Romashenko, who found Benoit and let him take care of the rest. Benoit leads the league with 25 goals, 18 assists and 43 points. Ty Tarvyd made 33 saves in net to preserve the tie.
In a road-heavy January, the Chiefs are in action again Jan. 13 when they travel to take on the Bow Valley Timberwolves (9-8-4) at the Cochrane Arena. Their next home game goes Jan. 21 when they host the Red Deer CanPro (7-10-4) at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Braves falter
The warm holiday cheer was nowhere to be found in the Wheatland Braves locker room following their 4-2 loss to the Airdrie Lightning (6-15-2) White Jan. 6 at Hussar Arena.
For both teams, it was their first game back from the holiday break, and the effort portrayed by the Braves is starting to grow old with their bench boss.
“For four months now, we have been trying to get these guys to buy into working hard and it hasn’t happened,” said Braves head coach Keith Klemmensen. “From now on, guys are going to have to earn their ice time. If you’re not willing to put in the effort then you aren’t going to play.”
The local double-A peewee team (5-14-2) recieved goals from Nolan Mahussier and a powerplay tally from Cole Whelan. Adam Moore, Garrin Gosling and Mahussier picked up assists.
Rhett Harten started in net for the Braves. He stopped 18 of 22 shots.
Up next for the Braves sees them take on the Okotoks Oilers Black (5-12-2) Jan. 14 at the Murray Arena. They return home Jan. 22 when they welcome the Central Alberta Selects (1-17-4) to the Strathmore Family Centre.
Warriors lose 3-1
The Wheatland Warriors got off to a slow start this season, going 2-6-2 in their first 10 games.
In the 10 games leading up to the holiday break, the local double-A bantam team was playing better, going 5-5 in that stretch.
At the time, head coach Cody Brown was apprehensive about the holiday break, not wanting to take a break having seen his team turn a page in their progress.
In the Warriors (8-12-2) first game back, they fell 3-1 to the Olds Grizzlys at the Olds and District Sports Complex.
Scoreless after the opening frame, the Grizzlys (12-6-1) popped two past Logan Grant in the second.
“Logan stood on his head for us,” said assistant coach Brandon Neufeld. “We got out to a slow start, and if it wasn’t for him, then we would have lost by a lot more.”
Grant finished with 34 saves.
Adam Kirkpatrick cut the lead in half when he sniped his ninth from Zach Stangness with 3:33 remaining in the frame.
The Warriors tried to claw back in the third, but were forced to pull the goalie with a minute remaining. That’s when Jordan Saunders picked up the empty net marker, icing the Warriors.
The Warriors will look to bounce back against the very same Grizzlys Jan. 15 when the two meet up at the Strathmore Family Centre. Puck drop is set for 4:15 p.m.