With a couple of weeks to lick their wounds, the Bow Valley Timberwolves are preparing to attack unwary prey at the Hockey Alberta major midget AA hockey provincial tournament starting today (March 20) in Wainwright.
After bowing out of the South Central Alberta Hockey League playoffs in a series loss to Sylvan Lake, the Timberwolves have healed and regrouped in time to ambush any team that dares take them lightly at provincials.
“It’s a big tournament and a big challenge,” said Bow Valley defenceman Noah Bigland. “It’ll be a tough one, but I think we can hold ourselves together.”
The Timberwolves last played March 1, when they were ousted from South Central Alberta Hockey League playoffs in an epic five-period, 4-3 loss to Sylvan Lake. Injury-depleted Bow Valley had just six players on the bench for that one. While Teighan Keller (broken ankle) and Brad Bergshoeff (shoulder) are still out, other players have used the break to recover from the nicks and dings that come with a season of elite midget hockey
“We haven’t played for a while. But I feel really confident,” said Bigland, who used the break to rest his ailing knee, back and shoulder. “Personally, I like the break.
“If we play the way we did the whole season, we’ll be good.”
Coaches Kris Keller and Kashtin Gordon, who’ve been filling in for head coach Mike Bigland, have been ramping up the pace of practices to prepare the Timberwolves for their assault on provincials.
“We’ve been working hard in practice, so I think they’re all focussed and ready to go,” said Keller, a former Cochrane Generals sniper now passing his knowledge on to Cochrane’s midget-aged players. “The guys understand we had some bad luck this year with injuries.
“They know we have a very good team and we’re very capable of doing a lot of damage at provincials.”
The team is in Pool B for the round-robin portion of the tournament, facing Red Deer and Lethbridge teams they defeated during the regular season. Sherwood Park and Cold Lake round out Pool B.
“We know Red Deer. We know they’re going to be a tough team,” Gordon said. “They’re in the middle of league finals right now. Hopefully they’re a little worn down.
“We’re ready to play anybody.”
Team captain Jaydan Gordon said the boys in the room are ready to take on anyone standing in front of them in Wainwright.
“They’re all really good teams,” the lanky defenceman said. “But they’re all definitely beatable teams. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to come out and make some noise.”
