Even the strongest athletes, have days that test their character to the limits. For Bow Valley Timberwolves Midget AA hockey team, a mixed weekend of results is all part of the learning curve.
T-wolves (2-5-2, 7th North Div.) hosted Taber Golden Suns (5-5-1, 2nd South Div.) on Nov. 7. The gritty, physical battle ended in a 4-4 draw, with Christian Dees (two), Spencer Chapman, and Thane Kondrat scoring for the Cochrane-based team.
“We missed some chances in the first and second periods,” said Erik Krigel, Timberwolves head coach. “In the third period, we played par hockey with them and in the last eight minutes, the boys found their hearts and wanted to play. We scored the goals we needed, and in the last 34 seconds we rang one off the inside of the post.
“The boys had a lot of heart and drive. It was a perfect example of what we’ve been working towards this season.”
On Nov. 8, T-wolves welcomed West Central Tigers (8-2-2, 1st North Div).
A rough start between two sides that were giving no quarter to each other was punctuated by a goal from T-wolves’ always-reliable Chapman. Kondrat continued his scoring run a couple minutes later as the home team stormed to a 2-0 lead. Tigers bounced back with a power-play goal, and then added another 45 seconds later to even the scales.
T-wolves re-took the lead when Tigers’ goalie bobbled a shot from Dawson Javorsky, allowing Justin Fehr a tap in, giving Timberwolves a 3-2 lead going into the second period.
Tigers came out guns blazing in the second, and produced some solid chances but were blocked out by T-wolves goalie Jackson Bader. Unfortunately, the visitors were able to break the home side down and took a 4-3 lead as T-wolves struggled to create much offensively in the rest of the period.
The hunger of both teams was evident in the third period as Timberwolves worked their socks off, but Tigers scored five unanswered to silence the home crowd.
Despite a 9-3 final score, Krigel feels that there is reason to be positive as his team is always working on the principles that his coaching staff is putting forward. Even though things aren’t going as planned at the moment, the potential is there.
“We just had some mental lapses,” Krigel said after the defeat. “The work ethic is there, skating is there, and the skill is there. We just need to work on some things in the defensive zone, which we will analyze in the next couple practices.”
T-wolves were outshot 53-28 by Suns, and 55-28 by Tigers, does Krigel think the team needs to be more confident when it comes to shooting and not try to pass the puck into the net?
“We do need to shoot the puck more from outside,” Krigel confessed. “We’re trying to get into the crease. We also have to hit the net. There were more than a dozen shots that went over the net (against Tigers).
“Having said that, these guys will buy into what the coaches want, and will keep working towards having a successful season.
“I feel that 100 per cent.”
