Bantam Warriors cage Hawks

The Westlock Bantam Warriors shut out the Athabasca Hawks 6-0 in a battle of east meets west at the Rotary Spirit Centre Dec. 9.

Tier 1 west leaders, the Warriors, crushed Tier 1 east leaders Athabasca in the Northern Alberta Interlock battle, leaving Westlock with an 8-1-3 mark compared to Athabasca's 9-2-0 record.

Assistant coach Nelson Jespersen commended the boys for a solid team effort, which was one of their more complete wins of the season.

'Our goal was to have three good periods and we played that way, and we haven't had that for a while, for five or six games," he said.

The boys were quick to move the puck, pass and back check to keep their opponents out, utilizing everybody on the ice.

'When they did come into our zone, we were on them fast and they didn't have a lot of time with the puck," he said.

'They're one of the team's that we're going to have to beat to do well in league. Tonight was a good win for our team, and we needed it. We've had this circled on our calendar for a while because we know they're a good team. It's a big win for us."

Reid Schmidt scored a hat trick and nailed the first two goals of the game in the first and second period.

Captain Cole Beaver said it was probably one of the best games they've played so far.

'We ripped the puck around, we played hard, we capitalized on our chances, we hit hard," Beaver said. 'We played the whole game. We didn't just play two periods, we played the whole game."

For himself, Beaver said he stepped up passing and whipping around the puck against a very physical team.

The Warriors faced off against Athabasca in the pre-season and played to a 5-5 draw.

'They were more physical at the start and then we started getting into it and started hitting more," Beaver said.

'We'll hopefully progress from this and just keep getting higher and higher. Keep getting better."

The Warriors have some challenges coming up and they'll be fighting to keep the momentum going and carry another three periods.

'There's teams that we beat early in the season that our nipping at our heels now. A lot of work ahead of us yet," Jespersen said.