This past weekend marked the end of another round of playoff action for several of the Drumheller Minor Hockey Raptors. At its conclusion, three of the four Raptors who entered the weekend will continue on their playoff march.
The DMHA Novice Raptors, who had come off a big win against Strathmore the previous weekend, were going into game 3, where the winner would take all.
By the end of the second period it was a stalemate, tied at 3-3. In the third period, Strathmore turned up the heat and scored 4 unanswered goals. The Novice Raptors couldn’t break the Strathmore defence and their playoff run was ended.
Pliva explained that despite the season having ended, it doesn’t mean they’ll stop playing.
“We’re not done. We’re going to have a couple more exhibition games and have some fun,” said head coach Tony Pliva. “We learned a lot, the kids and parents were great, it was a fun year.”
The Hi-Way 9 Pee Wee Raptors had a break this past weekend. They’ll be back in action tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in High River, followed by a home game in Hussar on Sunday at 12:15 p.m.
The Boston Pizza/Western Chevrolet Bantam Raptors are starting their next round this weekend after defeating Medicine Hat this past Saturday.
The Bantam Raptors began their dominance early in the game, scoring four unanswered goals by the time Medicine Hat could respond at 6:19 into the second period.
Medicine Hat struggled to come back, but the Bantam Raptors held them off and won 7-4.
The Bantam Raptors will be up against Claresholm this weekend. The first game starts at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday at the Drumheller Memorial Arena.
For the Bertram Drilling/Sports Room Midget Raptors, their series victory over High River could not have been any closer.
On Saturday the Midget Raptors were in High River hoping to win the second game and series.
During the first period, the teams were neck and neck, exchanging goals. The two teams headed into the first intermission with a 3-3 tie.
High River came out for the second period with a vengeance, scoring five unanswered goals. The Midget Raptors couldn’t catch up and lost 8-5.
The next day was a must win situation for the Midget Raptors. A loss would remove them from the playoffs.
After two periods, the outlook for the Midget Raptors was looking grim. High River had taken a 4-1 lead.
The Midget Raptors battled back and in the final minute were down by one goal.
In the dying seconds, during a scramble in front of the High River net, one of the opposing defencemen cupped the puck in his hands in the hopes of getting a rather unsportsmanlike victory. The referees saw the deception and awarded the Raptors with a penalty shot with 1.1 seconds left in the game.
Thomas Ahner, who had scored four of the Raptors goals that afternoon, was given the shot and scored. The game was headed to overtime.
What transpired in overtime is hard to believe.
“We had a player in the penalty box and just as it expired Mitch Toffan flicked the puck off the glass, hit a High River player in the helmet, the puck went way up in the air, and then landed in front of Spencer Fournier who went on a breakaway and scored,” said head coach Darren Toffan.
The win means the Midget Raptors are heading to the next round of playoffs. The team will be playing tonight at 7:00 p.m. in Hussar against Okotoks.
The Midget Raptors had beaten Okotoks 8-0 in their previous meeting, though they’ll be facing a different team. Okotoks had defeated the top team in the league in the first round of playoffs.
For more information about minor hockey, check out www.drumhellerminorhockey.com.
