The host Stettler Storm enter the provincial bantam A hockey championship on a roll.
The Storm swept Rocky Mountain House 2-0 in their best-of-three North Central Minor Hockey Association semifinal last weekend.
Stettler “played a real solid game” in winning 6-1 on Saturday at Rocky, and “played an even better game” in posting a 7-0 shutout at home Sunday, said Storm coach Rory Rost.
“The timing was pretty good. We haven’t played a lot in the last couple of weeks. I don’t know if that’s going to be a blessing or a curse, but I’m hoping it’s going to benefit the kids. Because if we do end up making it to the finals this weekend in provincials, it’s potentially six games in about three and a half days.
“So I think we want to come in with our troops well-rested. You always want to be peaking at a certain time of the year, and I think we are at the proper time right now. And we’re coming into the provincial tournament fairly healthy.”
Stettler has an 18-man complement — 17 skaters and goaltender Ben Bauman — on board for the 10-team provincial championship, which runs from Thursday through Sunday at the two Stettler Recreation Centre rinks. The Storm’s first game is at 6:45 p.m. Thursday against Edmonton.
“We’ve had a couple of injuries, but one of the boys that had a knee injury has come back and played pretty solid with a knee brace,” Rost said of Mark Bengert. “He got hurt in the Sherwood Park series and he didn’t skate for about two weeks … he’s coming back a little earlier (than projected) and he’s looking not too bad.
“So the only player we think we might be missing will be Tye Mulgrove, with a broken collarbone. He’s had it for about five weeks.”
Rost said Mulgrove was scheduled to see a doctor Monday, and might still be available this weekend.
“Tye is a little speedster. We’d love to have his speed out there in certain situations. If the doctor gives him the green light, we’ll still dress him and maybe put him out killing penalties ... we’ll see. We’re hoping. As a kid, he wants to come and play, too.”
The Storm came to play last weekend as they finished off Rocky in their league semifinal.
Stettler captain Matt Sylvester scored four goals in Saturday’s victory. Jeff Ternes added a goal and three assists, Ethan Rost scored, and Brendan Bardwell and Quade Cassidy each had a couple of assists. Bauman blocked 33 shots in the Storm net.
Bauman followed up with a 19-save shutout Sunday. Sylvester, with a three-point game, Bardwell and Jordan Lee each netted two goals, while Cassidy had a goal and three assists.
After the provincials, Stettler goes up against Sylvan Lake for the North Central league championship. The Storm captured the regular-season pennant with a 16-2-2 record.
They also won the Zone 7 championship to go into the provincials through the front door, though they were already guaranteed the host berth. Stettler defeated Sherwood Park 5-4 in the two-game, total-goal zone final.
Stettler, Lloydminster, Whitecourt, Beaumont and Edmonton make up Pool A, while Pool B is comprised of Sherwood Park, Grande Prairie, Okotoks, Olds and Calgary.
The teams face off in pool play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The top two teams from each five-team division advance to the semifinals Sunday morning. The final is set for 3 p.m. Sunday.
“We don’t know much about any of them, other than Sherwood Park — we’ve played them in the (Zone 7 championship) series,” coach Rost said of the provincial participants.
“And I think we’ve played this Lloydminster team in our tournament … Otherwise, there’s a lot of unknowns here.”
The inclusion of Edmonton and Calgary teams in the provincial bantam A mix adds further intrigue to the Stettler tournament.
Although the Storm have had a stellar season, they haven’t necessarily reacted well to unfamiliar opponents, Rost said with a chuckle.
“If we’ve never played a team — this is just the mentality of our boys — we need a period just to feel them out, just to see how good they are or how weak they are. And sometimes against a good team, you don’t have time to feel them out.
“So I guess that’s the responsibility of the coaches to get the players pumped and motivated right from the opening faceoff, especially against teams that we haven’t played before.”
He doesn’t anticipate that to be a tough sell.
“Whatever we’ve asked the kids to do this year, they’ve done it, responded and they’ve seen the results,” Rost said.
“When you see success … they get a taste of it and it’s a little contagious. That’s the way they are right now. They’re starting to buy in to a very simple but creative system. And it’s working.
“We’ve got a perfect balance right now. The goaltending has been really solid and our defence has bought into the simple system of just getting (the puck) out, getting it into the neutral zone and letting the forwards get on it. Once we get control of it, we’re a very offensive-minded team. But, like I say, we’ve got to take care of our own end. It’s simple. I mean, it’s not complicated. Our boys have bought in to this and have done very well.”