You’re only as good as your next game.
If Bow Valley Midget Timberwolves’ last two games are any indication, they’ll be in good shape starting the South Central Alberta Hockey League (SCAHL) Midget AA playoffs against Sylvan Lake.
Despite losing Round 2 of the Hockey Alberta Zone 6 Major Midget AA provincial playdown, the Timberwolves defeated Strathmore Wheatland Chiefs 6-4 in the process. The Game 2 win Feb. 11 in the two-game, total-goals series put a positive spin on things after Cochrane’s Bow Valley squad dropped the opener 5-1. Timberwolves lost the series by a combined 9-5 score.
But Timberwolves followed their 6-4, Game 2 provincial-playdown decision over Strathmore with a stirring 8-2 victory over visiting Okotoks Oilers on Feb. 15 in the final SCAHL Midget AA regular-season game for both teams.
T-wolves are in an opening-round “one-and-done” playoff against the Sylvan Lake Lakers. Winner of the Feb. 19 contest (6:15 p.m., Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, Totem 2) advances to the second-round of the SCAHL Midget AA playoffs.
“It’s a great opportunity, with that last playdown game against Strathmore,” said Timberwolves coach Kris Keller, who shares coaching duties with Kashtin Gordon and Tyson Soloski, all former Cochrane Generals junior stars. “Maybe the regular season didn’t go quite the way we wanted to. I think we’re peaking at the right time. Our confidence is really high right now. Confidence is everything going into the playoffs. We’re beating some of the top teams in the league. That’s always a good sign.”
Timberwolves put an exclamation point on a middling (11-20-3) regular season with a convincing 8-2 Sunday afternoon win over Okotoks Oilers (21-8-5) at Cochrane Arena. The final score of the Feb. 15 SCAHL season-ending tilt was bloated by four empty-net goals for the hosts in the game’s final three minutes. Down 4-2, visiting Okotoks pulled goalie Liam Aitken and kept pulling him after each empty-netter to put in some reps on the power play.
Bow Valley jumped all over it like a hungry wolf on a pork chop, with Jesse Profit bagging an empty-net hat trick in the game’s final two-and-a-half minutes. Kyle Paltzat also bagged an empty-netter.
It should be noted Wheatland Chiefs (27-4-3) and Oilers finished 1-2 respectively in the SCAHL Midget AA South Division.
“It shows everybody in our room that they have the ability to beat anyone when they’re playing their game,” Soloski said. “After we played that Strathmore team and won, the players actually realized if we play well we can beat any team in this league. We kind of have a new attitude for the playoffs now. The guys are excited.”
Against Okotoks, Paltzat, Brad Bergshoeff, Wyatt Fenton and Tyler Wood solved Aitken prior to the empty-net derby. Timberwolves have feasted solid play from goalies Jackson Bader and Devin Daviduk, another development putting Bow Valley on strong footing heading into postseason play.
“Our goaltenders have been our rocks all year,” said Gordon. “Without them we wouldn’t be where we are even right now. As of the last couple of games, we’ve been building from the back end forward. Our defensive zone has gotten a lot better. That’s given us opportunities in the offensive zone, by taking care of our own zone first. That’s been keeping us in games. If we keep building out from our goaltenders and our D, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
