The Athabasca Aces used a pair of exhibition games against the Portage College Voyageurs last week as a tune-up for the upcoming season.
But local hockey fans shouldn’t be too concerned with the actual results of those games (both losses, 11-1 and 12-2), according to Aces head coach Tony Kiselyk.
The coach knew going in that the Portage team was on a higher level than his Aces, or indeed any team that will compete in the North Central Hockey League this season. So winning wasn’t a priority.
He was more interested in getting his team some face time with an elite squad while reintroducing them to fast, hard hitting hockey before the games start to count.
In that regard, the two-game set was a big success.
“We expected tough games and that’s what we wanted. We wanted to test our team,” said Kiselyk. “Nobody really likes to lose, but those were two really good games for us. We got some good contact, a good fast pace and our goalies got lots of work.”
The coach was especially impressed with his team’s effort in the first period of the second game, played last Saturday in Lac La Biche. The Aces skated with the college team and headed to the dressing room with a 2-2 tie at the intermission. After that conditioning became a factor and the Voyageurs pulled away.
But the Aces can take plenty of positives from the games as they enter final preparations for the new season, which will begin in Legal on Saturday, Oct. 15.
“I think we’re going to be stronger this year. We’ve added a few players and our goaltending is strong.”
