The Sundre midget Huskies, back on the ice for the first time after a several year hiatus, skated their way straight to the league division championship against Airdrie.
Game 1 of the Central Alberta Hockey League midget tier 2 playoff finals was played on Saturday, March 9 on the road, where the home team won 6-4 to take a 1-0 lead in the series, said coach Tony Myram.
“We executed our game plan fairly well,” said Myram.
Starting out that game with an early 3-0 lead, the Huskies “slacked off a bit” and let four goals slip through. Despite being down 4-3, the Sundre squad was able to regain its momentum and scored two more goals late in the second period to get back in the lead, he said, adding the team put away an insurance goal about halfway through the third period.
But that accomplishment was no easy feat, as the Huskies ended up getting two penalties in the same shift with some four minutes left in the game. Airdrie eventually pulled their goalie, stacking the odds against the Huskies who were outnumbered six to three on the ice, he said, adding they nevertheless stood their ground and held back the competition.
“It was the best penalty killing we’ve done all year,” said the coach, praising Airdrie as a fast team with a “relentless forecheck. They put lots of pressure on us.”
Game 2, played at the Sundre Arena on Sunday, March 10, went in favour of the visiting team, who won 4-2, he said.
Down 1-0 at the end of the first period, the Huskies battled back to regain a 2-1 lead about halfway through the second period. But before the clock timed-out in that period, Airdrie scored two short-handed goals and took back the lead to head into the third period 3-2.
“That took the wind out of our sails. It was tough to recover from that,” the coach said, adding Airdrie put away one more insurance goal in the third period to win 4-2.
“We weren’t mentally prepared enough for that game,” he said.
“We just didn’t bring the intensity we needed to match Airdrie.”
Down 1-0 in the series and facing the possibility of losing the title, Airdrie went into Game 2 with “nothing to lose,” he said.
“They just outplayed us…they worked hard and earned the win, that’s for sure.”
But the Huskies’ fourth line — Payton Bowlen, Tyson Bowlen and Zak Weir — kept the momentum going, he said.
“We call them our P, B and J line.”
Goaltender Bruce Simonds also performed admirably, with Airdrie outshooting Sundre in both games — 38-26 in Game 1 and 33-24 in Game 2, the coach said.
Leading up to the league division championship finals, the Huskies had previously defeated Rockyford in the first round, he said.
The first game, played on Friday, Feb. 22 on home ice, “was a barnburner,” said the coach, adding the Huskies narrowly edged out a 8-7 victory following five minutes of five-on-five overtime.
“Then we scored the winner during the first shift of four-on-four in second overtime,” he said.
The second game was played on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Rockyford, with both teams initially holding one another off and ending the first period tied at nil.
“Then, our top line finally got one past their goalie to open the floodgates and we scored six in the second, kept the hammer down and cruised to a 10-1 win to take the series 2-0.”
Airdrie ended up defeating Red Deer in their series to make the finals against Sundre, he said.
Last month, the Huskies also made the C division of provincials, and played against Beiseker, a higher-tier team that went on to narrowly defeat Sundre, he said.
“Our guys did a fantastic job stepping up to the plate against a higher-tier team,” he said.
“They’ve developed really well,” said Myram about the Huskies during a March 4 interview.
“We’ve put up pretty good offensive fight,” he said.
“We’ve got some kids that are certainly capable of putting up points.”
But the coach added his team has given up too many goals and that efforts were being ramped up to focus more on defence. While their power play “has been pretty good,” the Huskies’ penalty kill “has been way better,” he said.
In terms of positioning on the ice, the squad has also come a long way and has been playing less scattered and more controlled. The coach said he observed less panic through the lineups when a player gets the puck and more confidence to make a smart play when they have possession.
Previously coaching hockey in Cremona, Myram, who lives south of the neighbouring community, said this was his first year as a head coach in Sundre, although he has previously helped out with the local minor hockey association.
“I played hockey in Sundre when I was younger,” he added.
When asked whether he intends to continue coaching the midgets next season, Myram said, “If they’ll take me, I’m really looking forward to it.”
The coach also expressed gratitude for the community’s support throughout the season from regular games to tournaments.
“We don’t have too many games where the stands aren’t pretty full,” he said.
“We’ve had great crowds.”
