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Warriors finish with 1660 silver

Westlock's Bantam Warriors year ended with a silver lining following an intense finish which saw them compete for both the 1660 Bantam Tier 1 Hockey League title and a provincial ‘D' championship in a seven-day span.
The Westlock Bantam Warriors poses with their Tier 1 1660 Hockey League silver banner. L-R: assistant manager Paul Gerig, Jordan Garbiar, Jona-than Zeise, Cole Beaver,
The Westlock Bantam Warriors poses with their Tier 1 1660 Hockey League silver banner. L-R: assistant manager Paul Gerig, Jordan Garbiar, Jona-than Zeise, Cole Beaver, Brenden Gerig, Seth Fairholm, Zaidyn Pipke, Jonah Bennett, AJ Balderston, Jonathen Servage, Jacob Reagan, Evan Brost, Keenan Fortier, Reid Schmidt and head coach Barry Brost. Missing are Royce Watson and manager Aimee Fortier.

Westlock's Bantam Warriors year ended with a silver lining following an intense finish which saw them compete for both the 1660 Bantam Tier 1 Hockey League title and a provincial ‘D' championship in a seven-day span.

During the 1660 finals, the Warriors ultimately were swept in two games by the Slave Lake Thunder, first losing 1-0 on home ice March 13 and then dropping a 3-2 decision at the Arctic Ice Centre in Slave Lake March 21.

The loss came on the tail of a tough semifinal loss at the provincial ‘D' championships in Hanna.

Following a perfect 3-0 round-robin record, the Warriors fell 2-1 to Boyle Blazers in the semifinals. The Blazers went on to claim the provincial title.

'We played a lot of hockey games in a very short period of time," said head coach Barry Brost.

'The kids played some great hockey, they stayed disciplined and focused. We had some good hockey games, but we just didn't win them."

With 10 first-year players and four in their second year, the Warriors played well against a stacked deck throughout the season, finishing in first place in the regular season with an impressive 21-3-0 record.

'Playing Tier 1 and having the record we did was phenomenal for the boys," said Brost.

'I think that the young men should take that as a huge compliment."

The Warriors are now hanging their skates up until next season. Four will move on to the midget age level, while Brost said he hoped his 10 first-year players will be back in the fall.

'We'll do a little team wind-up at some point, then the kids will move on to their other sports," he said.

'I know we've got some baseball players, soccer players and all the rest of it. They'll go and spend their summers being kids, that's part of being a young athlete."

During Game 2 of their league playoffs versus Slave Lake, the Warriors came out swinging.

Reid Schmidt fired a bullet past Thunder goaltender Chase Nehring just two minutes into the game. The goal remained unanswered for over 10 minutes before Slave Lake was able to counter with eight minutes left in the first period.

Zaidyn Pipke and Jordan Garbiar were able to get a pass to Cole Beaver to score a goal and put the Warriors up 2-1 in the opening minutes of the second period, which Slave Lake was able to answer back in the closing minutes of the frame, leaving the game tied 2-2 with 20 minutes to play.

Then, just three minutes into the third period, Slave Lake was able to sneak a goal past the Warriors John Zeise to put the Thunder up 3-2.

Despite an onslaught by the Warriors, the Thunder were able to hang on, forcing the Warriors to settle for silver.

'We were partially disappointed, but we're willing to accept successes in other ways," said Brost. '

Wins and losses don't define who we were as a team. We know what our abilities were and I think the kids were proud to accept that."

Overall, Brost noted that the journey was the real prize for the team.

'It was a great season for the boys. Great development. We'll see where their careers go from here."

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