COLD LAKE – On Friday and Saturday night, the Cold Lake Aeros dominated the scoreboard in both of their exhibition games against the Vegreville Vipers.
The Western State Hockey League (WSHL) teams played on Friday night at the Cold Lake Energy Centre, where the Aeros won 6-2 against the Vipers during the Aeros’ home opener.
The Aeros beat the Vipers 9-2 the following night at the Vegreville Recreation Centre.
The Friday and Saturday games were the first and only two exhibition games the Cold Lake Aeros will play before beginning the regular season on Oct. 29 against the Edmonton Eagles. The game is scheduled to take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Cold Lake Energy Centre.
Making their debut at the Cold Lake arena following their move from the Town of Edson, the WSHL team showed up practiced and prepared for their first games of the 2021-22 season.
Setting up plays and making strong passes, the Aeros put up the first point on the board partway through the first period.
For majority of the first period, the Aeros managed to keep possession of the puck, but didn’t score again until halfway until through the second period.
After the Aeros scored their second goal of the game the Vipers came back hard for the remainder of the period, scoring their first goal with a break away. This was matched by a third goal by the Aeros.
In the last four minutes of the second period, the Vipers scored their second and final goal of the night bringing the score to 3-2 for the Aeros. In less than a minute the Aeros had returned to the Vipers defensive zone to score their fourth goal before the period ended.
By the third period both teams returned to the ice with depleted energy. Still, the Aeros were able to score two more points in the final period.
During Friday’s game, both Aeros’ players Matt Pantone and Nathan Stevens scored two goals. Also earning a point was Colten Deneron and Daniil Prigarin.
On Saturday night, Colten Deneron scored his first hat trick of the season. Matt Pantone got two goals. Adding one point to the Aeros score board was Kyle Avery, Stephen Mosgopoulos, Josh McVeigh and Nathan Stevens.
The WSHL is a Tier 2 Junior A Hockey League with teams in Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Utah.
