The Boston Pizza Western GM Bantam Raptors have qualified for the provincial championship tournament after a convincing win over Duchess.

The Bantam Raptors were in action versus Duchess on Sunday, February 24. In this game, they lost 4-3. Because it is a two-game total point series, on Wednesday, February 27 they were back on the ice in Drumheller Memorial Arena to play and came into the game trailing by one goal. The Raptors lit up and won 6-2 overcoming the deficit and qualifying.

Coach Jamie O'Brien is impressed with the team’s focus down the stretch.

“I think the guys are really paying attention and buying into the system,” said O'Brien. “they are implementing our game plan. Every game they try to implement what we give them and they are doing a good job.”

The Provincials are in Vermillion on the weekend of March 14-17.  Coach O'Brien says he has seen a number of the teams throughout the years that are going to be at the Bantam C Championship and expects it to be a strong tournament.

“There are a lot of good teams going there so it will be good competition,” he said.

In the meantime, the Bantam Raptors are in the midst of their league playoffs and are currently in a series versus Kneehill County.

O'Brien adds that he is grateful for the sponsorship from Western GM. He said Doug and BarbLubinskii have shown tremendous support.

    A season full of accomplishments came to a close for the Drumheller Dragons on Sunday afternoon, as Drumheller easily made notched a franchise record 37 wins to cap off the 2018/19 regular season.

    Drumheller won 5-1 to the the Calgary Mustangs in a home matinee on March 3, ending the regular season in third place in the AJHL South Division with a record of 37-19-4, finishing behind Brooks and Okotoks. So ends a season which saw not only the franchise wins record behind beat, but which also saw Jordan Taupert become the top all time scorer for Drumheller and goalie Hunter Virostek getting the most wins in franchise history.

    Drumheller beat the Calgary Mustangs at home March 3 in a 5-1 victory which was a slow start for the Dragons, as three penalties in the first period slowed the Drumheller offence. The Mustangs went up 1-0 in the first before Drumheller finally answered back with a with an early second period powerplay goal by Bradley Stonnell. Drumheller would maintain majority puch control for the second period but it wasn’t until the final minute of the frame that Hassan Akl and Derrick Budz would score back-to-back goals (Budz’ on the PP), to make it 3-1 heading into the third. Shane Ott would go on to score after just 18 seconds into the third, and Budz notched his second of the afternoon soon after. Both teams were getting physical and a Mustangs player took either a high-stick or a shot to the face, leaving the ice with a broken nose and causing a delay as officials cleaned up blood left on the ice.

    The win came off a 7-3 rout of the Olds Grizzlies on the road the night prior, with Daniel Allin relieving Virostek from the net in preparation for the playoffs, which start Thursday, March 7 at home where the Dragons will get two games of home ice advantage against the Canmore Eagles. The Eagles finished fifth this season with a 30-25-5 record. Drumheller played the Eagles six times this season, winning 2 with a +10 point differential over Canmore.

    Game time is at 7:00 p.m. this Thursday at the Memorial Arena.