Momentum.
It’s what you want down the stretch.
The Bow Valley Midget AA Timberwolves are trying to roll in the right direction as the South Central Alberta Hockey League season winds down. The T-wolves edged Airdrie 7-6 in a two-game, total-goals Hockey Alberta Zone 6 Major Midget AA provincial playdown and are spooling up for the SCAHL stretch drive.
A 4-4 result in a gritty Jan. 24 SCAHL home game against Lethbridge Hurricanes was followed by a 4-1 loss Jan. 25 to North Division-leading Elks in Red Deer.
With four regular-season league games remaining, the T-wolves are trying to put it all together. There are signs the pieces are beginning to fit. Down 3-2 after Game 1 of their provincial playdown against Airdrie, the Timberwolves won the second and deciding game 5-3 in overtime to advance to the next round against Wheatland (Strathmore).
“We lost the first one,” said Timberwolves coach Kris Keller, who shares coaching duties with Kashtin Gordon and Tyson Soloski. “It was good to see our guys show that fight where they played until the last whistle. They didn’t want to lose.”
Following the Jan. 22 provincial playdown win over Airdrie, Bow Valley jumped back into league play against the Hurricanes. With Lethbridge leading 4-3 in the third, Tyler Wood scored his second of the game with 6:34 remaining to tie it up. Colton Wong and Ty Milligan also scored for Bow Valley.
“The boys have been working hard all year and they’re starting to see some positive outcomes from all the hard work they’re putting in every day in practice,” said Gordon. “It’s starting to pay off.”
The Hockey Alberta Zone 6 Major Midget AA Round 2 playdown schedule hasn’t been posted yet. Because provincial games are played around league games, pinning down a date can be tough.
Regardless of when they play, the Timberwolves know Wheatland will present a challenge.
“They’re good. They’ve only lost four games,” observed Soloski. “We’ve played them before and the final was only 2-1. We’re getting healthy finally and we’re playing really good right now. If we stay out of the penalty box, we have a really good chance.”
As for the SCAHL regular season, the 9-18-3 Timberwolves have four more games to sharpen up ahead of league playoffs in March.
