Westlock’s senior ‘AA’ Warriors are done for the year following back-to-back overtime heartbreakers this past weekend.
The team’s inaugural North Central Hockey League season came to an end Feb. 22 at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre, when the Devon Barons recorded a 5-4 OT win in Game 4 to win the best-of-five playoff series three games to one.
Friday night in Devon the Barons pulled off an identical victory, scoring in OT to win Game 3 by a 5-4 score.
“That’s it, the season’s over,” said Warriors coach Joe Kuhar.
Despite the loss, Kuhar considered the season a success. The team finished the regular season 9-9-0, meeting the coaching staff’s goal of a .500 finish.
They also achieved the goal of making the playoffs, and exceeded expectations by advancing to the second round.
The team also accumulated several individual awards, with Evan Kuhar winning the scoring title and being named league MVP, and three members being named to the league’s post-season all-star teams.
“Those are huge accomplishments in the first year of expansion into the league,” coach Kuhar said. “We can only build off that for next year.”
As successful as the Warriors’ inaugural season was, Kuhar said he wants to see the team return to the ice next year more improved than how it left it.
Already he said there is interest from new players who want to try out for the team, something that bodes well for increasing the team’s depth and making the team stronger.
However, with so many current players likely to want to continue playing, he said it’s hard to say just how many will be able to acquire a coveted roster spot.
“It’s going to be a tough go to crack the lineup if we still get the returning players,” Kuhar said.
Saturday’s 5-4 OT loss to Devon was an exciting affair, Kuhar said, and emblematic of the series as a whole.
“It was a good, tough series,” he said. “Everybody was on the edge of their seats for sure.”
The Barons opened the scoring, but the Warriors tied the game 1-1 before the end of the first period on a goal by Mike Ivey. Derek Koizumi and Zac Schram had the assists.
In the second, Gord Bell scored at 5:55 to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead, with an assist by Dave Carr.
However, the Barons struck back with two goals of their own to take a 3-2 into the second intermission.
The third saw the Warriors play catch-up.
Levis Monfette tied things 3-3 6:11 into the frame, with Carr drawing the assist.
Devon scored to go up 4-3 about six minutes later, but Bell’s second of the night with only 1:27 to play tied things 4-4, sending the game into overtime. Carr and Josh Wohland had the assists.
Overtime saw the Barons score at 12:59, ending the Warriors’ season.
“It was a tough loss, but at the same time it was a hard-fought series and looking back we exceeded our expectations,” Kuhar said.
