Kevin Berger – Leader Staff
The Barrhead Bombers junior hockey team kicked off their inaugural season with a pair of wins over the visiting Cold Lake Hornets on Friday and Saturday.
The Bombers won both games handily, beating the Hornets 12-2 on Friday and 9-2 on Saturday at the Barrhead Agrena.
Todd White, head coach and general manager for the Bombers, said Cold Lake was short-benched for both matches, as they were still awaiting some players to arrive.
While they started off well in both games, the Hornets quickly got tired and Barrhead was able to vastly outpace Cold Lake in shots on goal.
“We just cycled, cycled, cycled,” said White, noting that on the plus side, they were able to get their rookie players some ice time.
While the Bombers played well on both nights, White said they weren’t playing to their full potential yet.
They will be working on some of their weaknesses during practices this week at the Agrena. White said he will also be reviewing some game tape from the first two matches.
The Bombers will be facing a tougher opponent when they head on the road this Thanksgiving weekend for a pair of away games against the Hinton Timberwolves on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11-12.
While Cold Lake didn’t have the numbers to do, Hinton will play a lot more physical game against the Barrhead Bombers, White said, noting that Edson and Meadow Lake also play a very physical game.
On the plus side, the Bombers will at least have their appropriate jerseys when they face Hinton. The Bombers had to play in their practice jerseys during both home games, as the truck carrying their regular jerseys hadn’t reached Barrhead.
White noted they had gotten a call on Friday morning saying that the truck was still stuck in Toronto and wouldn’t get to Barrhead until this week.
Off the ice, White said they have had a few local businesses come on as sponsors over the past couple of weeks. They have billets for most of their players, although they are still looking for some.
White said he wanted to extend thanks to all the Barrhead and area residents who came out to watch both games and the volunteers who really stepped up to help the team out.
