The Warman U18 AAA Wildcats finally got their inaugural season underway, but dropped a 4-0 decision to the Battlefords Stars in both team’s season opener at the Legends Centre in Warman, on November 1.
This is the first season that Warman is competing in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League, and Wildcats head coach Ryan McDonald noticed some nerves from his players at the beginning of the game.
“In the first period, I think you saw some nerves and some jitters and we’ve got a lot of guys who are new to this league, including myself. It was a period full of firsts,” he said.
The Stars netted three goals in the period which put the Wildcats at a major disadvantage throughout the matchup.
Once the second period came around, McDonald thought the players started to settle in and play with more intensity.
“In the second period we competed hard, we did a lot of little things right, including getting the puck to the net, but there are things we still need to work on,” McDonald said
Warman ended up out-shooting Battlefords 17-8 in the period, but had nothing to show for it, as the Stars still led 3-0 going in to the final frame.
Even though Warman got numerous shots on net throughout the game, the Wildcats couldn’t quite jump on the rebounds and generate more pressure in front of the Battlefords goalie.
“We’ve got to get guys to the net, in front of the goalie’s eyes, plus we got to get players looking for those second and third opportunities to bang in some ugly ones in,” McDonald said. “I’m happy with our shot load, but there are just little details that we need to tighten up a bit.”
During the third period, The Wildcats had a golden opportunity to get on the scoreboard after being on the power-play for just over four minutes and forty seconds, which included a two man advantage.
However, despite getting some quality shots on net, the Battlefords goalie stepped up and made some high pressure saves.
The Stars added an empty-netter late in the game to complete the shutout.
Despite, the Wildcats playing better as the game progressed, McDonald thought the team definitely felt the pressure after falling behind early in the contest.
“When you get down a couple, especially when things aren’t going your way, the boys start to grip their sticks a little bit tighter and everyone gets a bit panicky and a little nervous,” he said .”We’ve got lots of things we can build on, as we made some really good plays, but there are a few areas we need to really work on too.”
The Wildcats have been practising since September but didn’t really have a gauge of where they were at as a team going in to the season, since their exhibition games were cancelled.
Even though the first game of the season didn’t go as plan, the Wildcats now know what they need to improve on to be successful.
“I give these guys a lot of credit in how we battled hard over the last month and a half of practice, now this gives us some real good teachable scenarios and hopefully we can improve on some of those areas we need to work on,” McDonald said.
The Wildcats are back in action on November 6 when they take on the Saskatoon Contacts on the road. Warman is scheduled to play the Contacts again on November 8 at the Legends Centre, with puck drop at 2 p.m.
