By COLBY STOESZ

The Warman U18AAA Wildcats battened down the hatches during last week’s frigid temperatures, hosting four different teams across five days at the Warman Home Centre Communiplex. The Wildcats can consider their home stand successful, having emerged victorious in three of their four games. 

Warman put on a clinic against the Notre Dame Hounds on Wednesday, blitzing the visiting goalie with 63 shots en route to a 12-3 victory. The right light lit three times for Dade Wotherspoon as he earned his first hat trick of the season. Calder Hamilton found the back of the net twice himself, while Cameron Jacobson and Jack Lavallee claimed four points each.

Friday’s game was less lopsided, as Warman needed more than overtime to finish off the Battleford Stars.

The battle began with two Battleford goals, which put the home team behind 0-2 heading into the second period. Early in the period, Dade Wotherspoon scored his fourth goal in two games, quickly followed by a Trey Markus goal to tie the game at two aside.

Both teams struck gold in the third period, with Declan Borthwick earning credit for Warman’s score. A scoreless overtime period sent the game to a shootout, and it was Calder Hamilton who scored the game-winner to lift the Wildcats 4-3.

Saturday’s match against the Regina Pat Canadians was another nail-biter that unfortunately went the opposite way for the Wildcats. 

Trey Markus scored Warman’s only two goals of the game and tied it up with less than five minutes to play in the third period. A Regina power-play goal with 2:51 left in the game sealed the deal for the visitors as the Wildcats fell 2-3.

The Wildcats righted the ship against the Tisdale Trojans on Sunday despite a slow start. After ceding a goal midway through the first period. Trey Markus tied the game in the dying seconds to make it 1-1 after 20 minutes.

Calder Hamilton scored first in the second period, but a Tisdale power-play goal minutes later had the game deadlocked once again. 

It wasn’t until the third period when Warman reminded the Trojans whose house they were in. The Wildcats rattled off five unanswered goals in the final frame, including a short-handed goal from Ty Dauvin to give the Wildcats a 7-2 victory.

The Wildcats are now up to sixth in the league standings, improving to a 21-16 record. Warman will meet the Saskatoon Blazers at the Martensville Recreation Centre on February 6 when they next take the ice.