As the peewee ‘B’ playoffs approach, the Barrhead Eagles are gearing up to make a run at the league championship.
On Feb. 10, the Whitecourt Vipers pulled into town for a makeup game that was a rehearsal for Round 1 of the playoffs.
The Eagles lost 4-3, but with only a handful of games remaining in the regular season, the Barr-head squad is focusing on improving some elements of their game.
“There are certain aspects of the game we’ve got to look at, such as faceoff draws and our special teams, which can make or break a team,” said Eagles coach Trevor Whiting.
For the first period the Eagles came out soaring. Their puck movement opened up the Vipers’ defence, giving the Eagles’ forwards a lot of ice to work with.
The opening 20 minutes of the game was a tight checking contest, played mostly in the neutral zone. Both teams manufactured chances in the attacking zone, but had trouble finding the back of the net.
“The first period was good and filled with good gameplay. These are two very even teams,” said Whiting.
Eagles goalie, Zachary Munroe, stood on his head, making timely saves as a posse of Vipers swarmed his net.
With 7:38 left in the first, Munroe was out of position when a Viper player fired a point-blank shot. Munroe managed to stretch his right pad across the goalmouth just in time to block the shot.
Munroe’s timely save drew a roar of applause from the home crowd.
Both teams retired to their respective dressing rooms locked in a stalemate.
The Eagles came out for the second period looking a little sluggish, but they managed to find the back of the net at 17:08 when Tanner Whiting snapped a shot from the hash marks past Vipers goalie Noah Wiens.
In the second period, the Eagles had trouble breaking out their own zone, as the Vipers disrupted their passing game.
“We had more individual play, and you can’t win without a team effort,” said Whiting.
The final eight minutes of the period was all Vipers as the momentum shifted in their favor.
The Vipers were threatening with only 2:07 when they scored.
Duncan Cairns was sent on a breakaway, as Eagles defender Peyton Measures got tripped up trying to keep the puck in the Vipers’ zone.
Less than 30 seconds later, the Vipers took the lead when an Eagles defensive miscue resulted in a three-on-one rush for the Vipers; Austin Steinbring fired a shot that beat Munroe over his right pad.
“Our only downfall is we forgot to play in the second period,” said Whiting.
The second closed with the Vipers up 2-1 over the Eagles.
“It happens to all teams: you forget to play one period, they score a goal, we lose all the momentum, and we quit skating,” said Whiting.
With 20 minutes left in the game, the Eagles had trouble finding their stride.
Early in the third, Dylan Callihoo outmuscled a Vipers defender while on a partial breakaway, only to be stymied by the outstretched right pad of Wiens.
The Eagles didn’t give up and were rewarded at 18:11, when Whiting potted his second goal of the game, ripping a bullet of a shot from the left faceoff circle that sailed over Wien’s blocker.
The Vipers got a break with 16:23 left in the period.
Keegan Phillipo shot the puck on net, yet Eagles captain Bryce Marsh inadvertently redirected the puck into the back of his net, handing the Vipers the lead.
Marsh made up for the error only minutes later, as he broke up Austin Hallowes’ breakaway with a timely poke check.
Marsh’s huge defensive play sparked his teammates into action.
At 14:51, Whiting fought off a Vipers’ defender while on a partial breakaway, and beat Wien along the ice with a laser of a shot, completing his hat trick and drawing the two teams even.
Unfortunately it wouldn’t be enough to carry the Eagles to victory.
“In the third we picked it up, but we weren’t getting the clean crisp passing that we needed,” said Whiting.
In the dying minutes of the third, the Eagles were unable to establish any sort of fore check even while on the power play.
The Vipers snatched the lead with 3:37 left in the game. Alex Williams stood unchallenged in front of Munroe, and shot the puck into the net.
With only 40 seconds left in the game, the Eagles pulled Munroe in favour of the extra attacker, but failed to score the equalizer.
“They’re actually quite fun to play against,” said Whiting.
