The Tier 1 Westlock Bantam Warriors ended the league season on a high note last Saturday.
The Bantams finished first in the 1660 League with a 21-3-0 record, topped off with three recent victories against Sturgeon, 7-2 on Jan. 28 at the Rotary Spirit Centre, 4-2 in a Feb. 14 away game, and 6-3 on home ice Feb. 18 in the last game of league play.
“We’ve stretched from a one-goal narrow victory at the start of the year to beating them by a couple of goals each game, so we’ve definitely advanced from the start of the year in October to now, so the boys are really developing,” said coach Barry Brost.
Brost said he was pleasantly surprised to see how the team climbed to the top of the leaderboard.
“I’ve been coaching for a few years and I’m really surprised we ended up in Tier 1 to start with, but to win Tier 1 the way we have won, it’s a really shocker to me,” he said. “The kids have all progressed. The 12 skaters and two goalies, every kid plays, both goalies rotate. It’s been awesome.”
With regular league play wrapped up as of Sunday, the Warriors will play four rounds of league playoffs in the next few weeks, which Brost expected would put them up against Ponoka or Sturgeon.
After that, the Warriors head to Hanna March 16-19 to represent Zone 3 as Zone 3 Bantam D Provincial Champions. They already got off to a strong start, knocking out Onoway in a single game 22-0.
“You can never be confident in hockey,” Brost said. “I like our team, I like the way we’re playing, the kids are having a blast, and the coaching staff is having a good time. I like our chances but we’ll see what the hockey gods have in mind for us in the next couple weeks.”
“We’re really excited for provincials. That’s our big one that we’re gunning for. We’d like to win both but if we have to pick one, we’re going for provincials.”
