Stettler Lightning outshot Mountain View Colts 50-27, in a 5-2 win with two goals from Dylan Houston and some timely saves from Jordan McCallum in their first pre-season on Friday, Sept. 4 in Stettler.
However, on Saturday, Sept. 5 Colts equalized the pre-seasons by winning the second game 4-2, despite a two-goal effort from Logan Davidson, as Lightning decided to give a night of rest to eight of the key players.
“I think it was a solid weekend for us,” said coach Gavin Brandl. “On Friday, we had a lot of energy right from the get-go and our speed and depth was evident as we were able to hem the Colts in their own end for large portions of the game.”
For the second game in Three Hills, Lightning-coaching staff decided to rest some of the players to avoid risking injuries this early in the season.
Brandl added that, with a shorter bench, it was evident that “our conditioning needs to improve, but that is to be expected at this point.”
With “solid goaltending both nights”, Brandl was very pleased overall with Lightning’s performance.
Dylan Houston, who scored two goals in the first game will be key this season and a major part of the Lightning attack, according to Brandl.
Tyler Wagner and Kieran Rost are two rookies that came up from the local midget program and are expected to be major contributors, as Lightning will lean heavily on overagers.
Coach Brandl’s expectation for this season is for Lightning to make an appearance at provincials in Red Deer next spring.
“With the host team being from our league, we have to win the Heritage League championship to earn a berth to provincials,” said Brandl. “It is a big challenge, but we have a very dedicated and talented group and I think they are up for it.”
Speaking of new tactics on ice, Brandl is especially excited about some of the different powerplay systems that Lightning should be able to set up with the “amount of pure talent and wide range of types of players we have.”
“We will stress all season long that we want to be agressive on the forecheck and positionally sound all over the ice,” said Brandl.