WAA hits the quarter century mark

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Athletic Association (WAA) is celebrating a banner year. The successful hockey organization turns 25, making it one of the oldest minor hockey programs in the province.
To help celebrate the quarter-century mark, an alumni tournament was held Dec. 28-30 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
“There were guys from some of our first teams, all the way up to guys from our graduating class last year,” said president Murray Brown. “It was a lot of fun, there were plenty of stories and laughs going around.”
Last year (2016) was very good to the WAA. It was highlighted by the bantam Warriors capturing the South Central Alberta Hockey League (SCAHL) crown, and the midget Chiefs being named south division champs.
The success of last season has rolled over into this season, as the Chiefs sit perched atop the south division once again, five points ahead of the Medicine Hat Hounds. At 20-2-2, the Chiefs have barreled over the competition this season, helped by a 12-game win streak. They own the league leader board with three players in the top-four in points. In net, Ty Tarvyd leads the league with a stunning .940 save percentage and 1.38 goals against average.
The defending bantam SCAHL champs started slow, but began to turn things around entering the holiday break. They are only three games back in the win column from a top-three seed in the south. The Warriors are led offensively by Kage Yellowfly (11G, 10A), Adam Kirkpatrick (9G, 10A) and Nolan Bailey (11G, 6A). In net Logan Grant carries a 6-4-2 record to go with a respectable .900 save percentage and 3.01 goals against average.
After taking a year off from coaching the peewee Braves, Keith Klemmensen and Slavo Halkovic are trying to instill a good work ethic in their young players.
“With Chestermere getting its own team this year, that kind of lightened the pool from guys to choose from. I’m glad Keith and Slavo are back, and the team seems to be coming along nicely,” said Brown.
The Braves currently sit seventh in the north division, led by Nolan Mahussier (10G, 12A), Tyler Fairbairn (14G, 8A) and Philip Raycroft (12G, 8A). The goaltending has been split down the middle, with Matthew Dovichak going 2-7-1 with a .840 save percentage and a 4.45 GAA, while Rhett Harten sits 3-8 with a .820 save percentage and a 5.09 GAA.