Yellowhead Chiefs keep winning when it matters

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Yellowhead Chiefs keep winning when it matters

Details: Published on Thursday, February 2, 2017

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

A pair of wins over the weekend have kept the Yellowhead Chiefs near the top of the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League standings. The Chiefs (25-4-8. 58 points) secured a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Thrashers on Saturday, Jan. 28. Yellowhead quickly followed that up with an identical 4-2 decision over the Interlake Lightning.

In the game against Winnipeg, the Chiefs completely controlled the first 20 minutes of play, outshooting the Thrashers by a three-to-one ratio (21-7 SOG). Despite that aggressive start,

Minnedosa’s Ryan Heino was the only player for the Chiefs, who was able to light the lamp, with an even strength marker near the end of the first period.

In the second, the Thrashers pushed back by both outshooting and outscoring Yellowhead. That left the Chiefs trailing 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation. Fortunately, the team was able to refocus and regain the momentum when it mattered. That comeback started with a power-play goal from Noah Geekie just 6:51 into the third. Then, Mackenzie Belinski came up with a short handed goal to both rally Yellowhead and deflate the Thrashers. Near the end of the game, Winnipeg attempted to comeback, but couldn’t get any rubber past Jeremy Dutcawich when it mattered. A late power-play goal from Rapid City’s Josh Belcher sealed the win for the Chiefs. Yellowhead ended the game 2-for-9 on the power-play and registered 50 shots to Winnipeg’s 32.

The next night, Yellowhead faced the Interlake Lightning. As they had against Winnipeg, the Chiefs jumped out to a quick start, outshooting Interlake 18-8 in the opening period. Just as positive was the fact that they were able to take advantage of those chances with three goals. Brian Mentuck, Jaxon Heeney and Ryder Richmond all registered goals in the first 20 minutes for the visiting Chiefs, providing them with a 3-1 lead.

In the second, the Chiefs kept the pressure on, but couldn’t add to their advantage. It wouldn’t be until the mid-point of the third where they’d be able to add another, as Mackenzie Belinski scored his 18 goal and 45 point of the season. Interlake would score before the end of regulation to make it a 4-2 final for Yellowhead. These wins keep the Chiefs just a lone point behind the Winnipeg Wild in the league standings.

Female Chiefs Sweep Eastman (Submitted)

The Yellowhead AAA Female Midget Chiefs welcomed the Eastman Selects to the Shoal Lake Communiplex for a two game home set this past weekend. The Selects are just behind the Chiefs in the league standings, so Yellowhead needed wins in these two games to ensure they maintained the gap and to set the stage, as it appears likely the two teams will face each other in the first round of the playoffs.

Game one on Saturday, Jan. 28 saw the Chiefs continue the solid play they displayed in the previous weekend’s Sunday victory over Pembina Valley. The line of Cass Lyttle, Rylee Gluska and Karli Frederick would be the early story, as Frederick scored in the first period and Lyttle in the second to stake the Chiefs to a 2-0 lead. Tatum Amy also scored in the second and the Chiefs were comfortably ahead by a 3-0 margin. However, the resilient Selects scored two quick goals before the end of the period, one on a power-play to narrow the lead to just a single goal. In the third, Amy would score again as the Chiefs captain and point leader continued her torrid scoring pace this month. The score would remain at 4-2 as Miranda Cook made 18 saves in the Chiefs’ net for the victory.

In Sunday’s game, the Chiefs scored late in the first period as Morgan Ramsay scored an unassisted short handed goal. Jena Barscello added the Chiefs second goal in the second period with assists from Ramsay and McKiya Mazur. That would be all the lamp lighting on this day, as the goalies shut the door the rest of the way and the Chiefs held on for a tidy 2-0 victory.

The Yellowhead Chiefs (18-8-1. 38 points) will now hit the road to Calgary for the Edge School Chinook Classic from Feb 2-5. With one last home game in the regular season when they return, the Chiefs appear primed for the playoff run.