The Saddle Lake Warriors would come out on top in its skirmish against the St. Paul Canadiens, by a score of 2 – 5 in a game last Sunday evening at Saddle Lake’s Manitou Kihew hockey arena.
It was the second time the team faced each other in the regular season, with the Warriors winning the last game 6 – 2 decisively at St. Paul’s Clancy Richards arena.
Even with the win, the Warriors’ assistant coach, Tony Steinhauer, wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance for the night.
“It’s supposed to be a 60 minutes (game),” commented Steinhauer after his team’s win, noting his team lost its legs towards the end of the match. “Any hockey game that I’m aware of is 60 minutes … and we’re not playing 60 minutes.”
Steinhauer went on to say the Warriors have to be stronger mentally in order to do better for the season. He pointed out the season is still early and the team’s coaches are still evaluating the players.
“The Warriors will come to life as the season goes on,” he predicted for the Warriors’ performance in the remaining half of the season.
The Canadiens’ head coach Aaron Block said after Sunday’s game that the Canadiens are hurting due to injuries and lack of player commitment. Block lamented that the team is currently playing with only 12 to 14 guys, even though the team has 25 players on its roster, and that “… players are being rotated in and out with injuries. Block referenced Rylan Couch, one of the Canadiens key forwards, who is currently out due to broken ribs from getting kicked during a game.
“We’re just hurting,” explained Block, adding, “We have one or two guys who are just no-shows.”
For the Canadiens to succeed, Block said the team needs to find players who are tough enough to play in the league so that they are not always getting injured.
“We also need to find guys who are committed to playing the game and playing the game as hard as they should be,” he said.
The Warriors and the Canadiens are currently holding seventh and eighth place respectively in the Northeast Alberta Junior B Hockey League, with the Warriors’ wins, losses and ties standings sitting at 3-6-0, and the Canadiens’ record at 2-9-0.
The Canadiens will play three games this weekend: the first will be against the Rangers in an away game on Friday; the second will see the team face off against the Bisons at home on Saturday; and finally, the boys will play the Bandits in Lloydminster on Sunday.
The Warriors will face off against the Cold Lake Ice in an away game on Friday, the Bandits in Lloydminster on Saturday, and the Ice again back home on Sunday.