WESTLOCK — It’s been a tough start for the Westlock Warriors, who find themselves down 0-2 to start the 2024-2025 season, after falling 5-3 to the Morinville Kings in their home opener Oct. 5 at the Rotary Spirit Centre.
“We were really disappointed in the outcome of this early game that we felt we should win,” said Warriors head coach Rod Kaliel. “We ran into some penalty trouble and Morinville capitalized on their power play chances.”
The Warriors opened the scoring late in the first period with a power play goal by veteran forward Blair Boulerice, but Morinville tied the game early in the second frame also with a man advantage, and then took a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Kaliel noted despite hitting a number of (goal) posts in the second period, the Warriors had some “really sloppy plays” and some “bad puck luck” in their home opener.
“We just couldn’t get by the Morinville goalie,” said Kaliel. “We had the opportunity to win, we just didn’t capitalize on our chances but certainly everybody was pretty disappointed with the outcome.”
Rookie Jayce Matson from Athabasca netted one more goal for the home team early in the third period but it wasn’t enough as Morinville took a 5-3 victory Saturday night.
Defensive zone coverage and penalty killing are two key aspects of the game that Kaliel wants the team to sharpen as the season continues.
The AA senior men’s Warriors have a mix of returning veterans and rookies this season, including eight new faces on the roster and will be playing in the expanded North Central Hockey League, which has increased to nine teams from across Alberta.
“It’s really good to see a new crop of younger players taking up senior hockey,” said Kaliel, noting the excitement and challenge in facing some new teams this season.
“Both Innisfail and Stony Plain are two of the oldest senior hockey programs in Alberta … playing in the Chinook league for the majority of that,” he added, noting the high calibre AAA league and a lack of teams this year, which lead Innisfail and Stony Plain to join the NCHL.
“It’s certainly going to be a challenge because it’ll definitely step up the competition. There’s going to be some talented teams we’re going to be playing and we’re excited to challenge ourselves against teams of that calibre,” Kaliel concluded.
The Westlock Warriors are back in action Friday (Oct. 11) in Lacombe before they return home to face the Devon Barons on Oct. 19 at the Rotary Spirit Centre. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
