Former NHL general manager, coach and CBC colour commentator Harry Neale used to say taking a shot on the net might not necessarily be the best play, but it will never be the worst.
And the Barrhead Midget Steelers regular season Oct. 26 home opener 5-3 win against the Drayton Valley Thunder is a good example of that.
The Steelers got off to a strong start largely dominating the first half of the period in the opposition zone and peppering Drayton Valley’s goaltender with shots. It wasn’t until past the nine minute mark until the Thunder recorded their first shot on net.
Blake Starman got Barrhead on the scoreboard with a powerplay marker just short of the six-minute mark. Assists were awarded to Devyn Kerr and Justin Haltiner. The Steeler continued their dominance for the rest of the period with a small hiccup when Barrhead took its first penalty of the game for interference at the 15-minute mark.
The Steelers ended the period leading 1-0 and outshot their opponents 19-6.
In the second period, Luke Szybunka (assisted by Brendan Bujold) extended Barrhead’s lead just 29 seconds into the frame.
At about the 10-minute mark, against the flow of the game, Bujold put Barrhead up 3-0 when he deflected Owen Week’s long lofting shot from the blue line near the boards.
Haltiner on assists by Brayden Bain and Siraj Assaf extended the Steelers lead again two minutes later when a he flipped the puck towards the net from the bottom of the right faceoff circle and it evaded the Thunder goaltender-.
Drayton Valley got on the board late in the period scoring two with less than three minutes to go in the period on successive power plays.
Steeler Jeremy DeVries scored the final goal of the period from behind the net when a centering attempt ended up behind Drayton Valley’s goaltender.
Despite outscoring Drayton Valley by a margin of two-to-one Steelers head coach Allan Measures said he did not like how they played in the period.
“We got away from our system and were penned up in our zone too much,” he said. “But we have to give Drayton Valley credit. They have a good team and are a great addition to the league.”
In the third period, the Thunder narrowed the lead scoring the final goal of the game with just over five minutes left in the period.
Once again the Steelers got into penalty trouble at the 13-minute mark and ended up having to kill a two-man power play for more than a minute.
“We have some things to work on, but it is only the first game and this is the time when you want these things to happen and not in February,” Measures said.
