Two weekend wins mean the Athabasca Aces are heading to playoffs, dissipating the end-of-season uncertainty that has hung over the senior AA team for weeks.
“We were very, very physical. We pretty much dominated them physically and put them on their heels,” said coach Curtis Creaser of how the Aces beat the Winterhawks 3-2 on Friday evening in Slave Lake. “That’s what we’ve been talking about doing to get out of the funk we’ve been in: to play more physical, play more gritty, get in guys’ faces enough — and that’s what we did. And that’s how we started (Saturday’s) game, too.”
Saturday saw the Aces pounce on the Drayton Valley Wildcats’ every weakness at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex. Though the Wildcats, the first-place team in the south division, opened the scoring, the Aces had them fairly trounced by the end of the second period with a score of 6-1. The Wildcats came back with six more goals — what Creaser called “a bit of a scare” in the third — but the Aces scored three more goals of their own, ending the game 10-7.
Creaser said it was good to see Brett Topola, who has historically been one of the Aces’ top offensive players, back in form. Topola’s first goal of the season was in Slave Lake on Friday, and he followed up with more on Saturday.
Emotion was running high all along the short bench the Aces took to Slave Lake, but Darnell Williams, Keith Reade and Eric Creaser played particularly well as a line that night, Creaser noted.
Carlen Lyle, an affiliate goalie for the Aces, was in net for both games and filled Jeff Creaser’s skates admirably.
Most importantly on both nights, “I think all the guys played well and capitalized on their chances,” said coach Creaser.
Heading into playoffs, that focus on collective success rather than individual excellence is key, he said.
“The biggest thing the guys are going to have to understand is when you hit playoff hockey, you have to put your ego aside and you have to know your goal.”
He said some players’ roles will increase, while others will diminish.
When asked what broke the Aces’ losing streak (the Aces had lost all their January games up until last weekend), Creaser said something clicked mentally for the team.
“With hockey and sports, it’s just psychological,” he said: once a team starts losing, a defeatist mindset can take hold, leading to cyclical losses.
There is also an element of luck.
“Tonight, a lot of our good scoring chances ended up in the net, where three weeks ago, we were missing the net or hitting the post, or the bounces just weren’t going our way,” he said.
Even with a little bit of help from Lady Luck, Creaser said it feels good to know that they’ve earned their playoff spot, rather than simply coasting on the losses of another team (last-place Rocky Mountain House).
“It’s coming at the right time. We’re heading into the playoffs on a high with two big wins, so if the guys can just keep that momentum and that attitude … it’s a good thing going into playoffs to have.”
