WESTLOCK — For the second consecutive year, the Westlock Warriors failed to move past the opening round of the NCHL playoffs and saw their 10th anniversary season, filled with so much promise, come to a disappointing end.
After a valiant 3-2 effort on Friday night, Feb. 16, in Game three in front of fans at the Rotary Spirit Centre, the Westlock Warriors ultimately fell 5-1 in game four on the road Saturday, Feb. 17, to the Bonnyville Pontiacs, cutting their hopes for a deep playoff run short and ending their North Central Hockey League (NCHL) post-season in the quarter-finals.
“It was really good to see the guys come out with a big effort despite the odds and give it their all on Friday night. We played the game like we wanted to, we shut down their top line and their scoring ability,” said Warriors head coach Rod Kaliel of Westlock’s 3-2 victory that included goals from Jesse Morrison, Blair Boulerice and Brett Kampjes, who netted the game winner with a short-handed marker late in the second period.
“Our mindset for the whole weekend was just taking it a period at a time,” he said. “Focusing on what we needed to do and not get too far ahead, and for the most part. we did that.”
Despite being down 2-0 after 20 minutes in game four on Saturday, the Warriors battled back for much of the game, cutting Bonnyville's lead to one with a powerplay marker by Clayton Eisler in the second period, making it a 2-1 game.
The Warriors outshot and out-chanced the Pontiacs in the remaining 40 minutes and hit a number of goalposts but just couldn’t get by their goaltender.
Although the Warriors beat the Pontiacs in three out of four games in the regular season and their penalty kill remained strong throughout the first-round series, they faced some challenges in the playoffs including injuries, struggles with the man advantage and the little things that just didn’t go their way.
“I think the whole team is disappointed in how things went in the first round. We really had high hopes that we would make a deep playoff run this year but we came up against a really solid opposition,” said Kaliel. “Congratulations to Bonnyville for having a great series and moving onto the semi-finals.”
Despite an early exit in the playoffs, the coach said the next several seasons for the Warriors look promising.
"We continue to build our program here in Westlock. We have lots of young Westlock kids that are currently in junior hockey and college hockey they could prospectively be additions in the near future,” said Kaliel.
"We have a bright future for senior hockey in Westlock.”
