The Westlock Senior ‘AA’ Warriors kicked off some of the rust from the off-season with an exhibition game against the Devon Barons last Saturday night.
It was the first competitive action the Warriors have seen this season, and although the Barons finished with a 6-5 win, Warriors coach Joe Kuhar said he was happy with what he saw.
“I think we did very well,” he said. “For a lot of the guys we were together just for the first time this season. This was really the first crack at playing the game where for the most part everyone was together.”
The Barons are by no means an easy team to beat, and in fact won a semi-final game with an overtime goal against the Warriors last year, eliminating Westlock from the North Central Hockey League playoffs.
Westlock got on the board first with a goal from Evan Kuhar less than 20 seconds into the first period, and they held that lead until the Barons tied things up right before the first intermission.
The Barons found the net twice in the second period before the Warriors responded — a goal from Alex Orr and two more from Dave Carr gave the Warriors the advantage going into the third.
The Warriors struggled a bit in the third, giving up three goals for a two-point deficit before a goal from Mike Podruzny put Westlock back within a point. The Barons held their lead for the rest of the period, however, and went home with the win.
Kuhar noted Westlock wasn’t playing its strongest lineup as some key players weren’t dressed, but said overall it was a good effort.
“I’m really happy with the way things went. It was definitely a little rough at times, but I guess that sets the stage for what they expect from the new season,” he said.
Kuhar said the Warriors are now in year two of a five-year plan to bring home a championship trophy, and he sees this year’s team as a big step in the right direction.
“It’s a five-year plan to win a championship, and we’re well on our way to that goal,” he said. “With 16 returning players, that’s pretty significant in getting us in that direction.”
Having so many returning players helps with keeping consistency in executing the systems the team has worked on over the past couple years, and the addition of seven new hometown Warriors to the roster this year definitely improves their odds as well.
“They’ve played at a good level previously, and they’re adding a lot of dimension and depth to our team this year,” Kuhar said. “We believe we have greater depth and a stronger team than last year, so we’re pretty exciting.”
While the Warriors’ offensive line has held strong from last year to this year, Kuhar said the place the team needed some work was in the defensive zone — something the addition of these new players helps with immensely.
“Definitely we’ve got a lot of strength up front in terms of offensive power,” he said.
“What we needed to do is toughen up our defensive side of things from last year and I think we have.”
The club kicks off its 2014-205 NCHL regular season this coming Friday night at the Spirit Centre versus the Slave Lake Winterhawks at 8;30 p.m.
