After taking a few weeks off over the holiday season, the Barrhead Midget ‘AA’ Steelers were back on the ice over the weekend, hosting two of its fellow division-leading teams in Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League action.
On Jan. 8, the Steelers played host to the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, and emerged as 6-4 winners in an evenly played game.
“It was a good game,” said coach Greg Schmidt. “The boys played with good energy and were battling out there.”
After the Rangers opened the scoring nine minutes into the first period, the Steelers got on the board when Connor Tiemstra put the puck in the back of the net at 13:22 on assists from Brandon Whiting and Jonathan Cyr.
In the second, Cyr gave his team a 2-1 lead at 1:56, with assists from Thomas Strawson and Jake Chizma. Cyr’s second of the game at 10:51 made it 3-1. Brett Bujold and Lowell Knapp had assists on that goal. Tiemstra made it 4-1 with help from Knapp and Dayne Wingrove at 13:04. A Rangers’ goal at 16:26 made the score 4-2 going into the third period.
The third period was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams trading goals.
The Rangers got things started at 3:11 to climb to within one goal at 4-3.
However, only 28 seconds later, Chizma scored to rebuild the Steelers’ two-goal lead at 5-3. Cyr and Tiemstra drew the assists. That lead would hold up for just over 10 minutes before the Rangers scored again to make it 5-4 with six minutes to play.
The Steelers were not to be denied, as they kept peppering the Rangers’ goalie with shots until Scott Westerlund scored unassisted at 15:12 to put the Steelers up 6-4, icing the game.
After the game, Schmidt said he was happy with how goalie Brandin Mast played, especially in the late stages of the game.
“Our goalie played well,” he said. “He made some key saves in the third when we were trying to protect the lead.”
Friday night, the Steelers started their post-holiday schedule by playing hosts to the St. Albert Blues.
Although the Steelers outshot their opponents 35-23, it was the visitors who came out on top by a score of 6-5.
“(Friday’s game) was not as good an effort,” said Schmidt after Sunday’s game. “They were just a little off. They were not as intense.”
Since the game was the first one the Steelers had played since Dec. 20, they may have been a bit rusty, he said, but that shouldn’t be an excuse.
Through the first two periods, the teams were tied 3-3. In the third, the Blues scored twice to go up 5-3 before the Steelers got one back to make it 5-4. The Blues replied, making it 6-4, where it stayed until Barrhead scored with only one second remaining to climb back to 6-5.
The Steelers’ next three games are on the road. They travel to Peace River and Grande Prairie on Jan. 14 and 15, before heading to Edmonton on Jan. 21. Their next home game is Jan. 27 when they host the West Yellowhead Rockies.
