The Barrhead Flyers are Zone 3 champions.
On Feb. 17, the Wabamun Wildcats paid a visit to the Barrhead Agrena for Game 2 of their provincial playdown series against the Flyers.
The Flyers took Game 1 in Wabamun, 4-3.
It was an exciting game from the drop of the puck until the final whistle, as supporters of both teams tried to carry their team to glory.
In the end, the Flyers came out on top 4-0, on the back of a stellar performance by goalie Logan Branden.
“It’s a good feeling for us as coaches and for the kids,” said Flyers coach Glen Starman.
The opening period could have gone either way, with both teams trading offensive chances. But, when the buzzer sounded, the Flyers were on top 1-0.
With 2:16 left in the first, Flyers captain opened the scoring with a beautiful shot from the left wing faceoff circle that sailed over the shoulder of Wildcats goalie Evan Tellier.
The first ended with both teams neck and neck in the shots category as the Flyers registered 14 shots, while the Wildcats fired 13 shots on Branden.
In the second period the Flyers got into some penalty trouble, reminiscent of the their game against Athabasca on Feb. 11. But this time around it didn’t cost them the game.
At the 12:33 mark in the second, the Flyers doubled their lead on the speedy Wildcats, when assistant captain Darien Cyre snuck a wrap-around shot under the left pad of Tellier.
The Wildcats went looking for a goal of their own, and nearly got one if it weren’t for the unbeatable Branden.
Near the half-way point in the second, the Wildcats’ best player, Josh Borynec, drove past the Flyer defence, but couldn’t beat the right pad of a fully stretched Branden.
“I just tried saving as much as I can,” said Branden.
For the final two minutes of the second period, the Flyers were on the penalty kill. But the penalty-killing unit did a superb job at keeping the attacking Wildcats to the outside edges of the ice, forcing them to take shots from angles and from long distances.
In the third period, the Flyers showed great composure as the Wildcats started taking more chances by looking for the long pass, which never materialized.
“They’ve got a couple of really good skaters. They’re a team you’ve got to respect, but our guys just stepped up their game and stayed right in the zone,” said Starman.
With 6:24 left in the third, the Flyers added a third goal on a break-away by Jonathan Klein.
The Wildcat defender lost his footing, giving Klein an open lane to the net. He made no mistake.
Less than four minutes later, the Flyers put the game out of reach.
Assistant captain Koby Adams took a crisp pass from Aedan Card, and caught Tellier moving the wrong way in his crease, which opened up a hole in his stance. Card made no mistake, beating the Wildcat goalie along the ice.
“It feels really good to be Zone 3 champions,” said Branden.
With the victory, the Flyers were crowned Zone 3 champions and now move on to the provincial finals, which is taking place Mar. 24-27 in Wainwright.
“We set goals at the beginning of the season, and it’s great to see it all coming together,” said Starman.
