The Drumheller Dragons faced the team with the best record in the Alberta Junior ‘A’ Hockey League Wednesday night, November 4, and took an unfortunate loss.
    The Lloydminster Bobcats came to Drumheller Memorial Arena and won 2-0 against the Dragons.
    Dragons goaltender Jonny Hogue said there were a lot of positives from the game.
    “There were so many good things in that game,” he said. “A lot of players worked really, really hard, and that is a positive.”
    Hogue said it is all about practice when it comes to playing.
    “The way you practice is the way you play the games. As a team, they were letting me see pucks and it was a good thing… We talked about the first period. We wanted to get that good start because we haven’t had that. Their goalie was playing well. The second period we came out a little bit flatter. We just have to work on playing a full 60 (minutes),” he added.
    The Dragons will now play two more home games before heading on the road again. The first game will be tonight,  Friday, November 6 when the Dragons host the Calgary Mustangs. The second game will be Saturday when they host the Canmore Eagles. Both games will have a 7:30 p.m. start at Drumheller Memorial Arena.

    The Bantam Titans held their heads high as the walked off the field for the season last Friday in Lacombe.
    The Titans had a great season finishing with a winning record. Lacombe stopped them in their tracks. Coach Andrew Zackrisson was proud of his team.
    “The boys never gave up and gave 110 per cent throughout the whole game. They tried to comeback,” said coach Zackrisson.
    The Titans came out fired up to take on Lacombe in the first round, but were struck with early injuries. A receiver, who also plays back-up quarterback, went down with a knee injury. The quarterback was then taken off the field with what appears to be a concussion. They also lost a safety and punt returner. The team had no quarterback so coach Zackrisson put in Braden Mazereeuw as quarterback.
    “He normally plays fullback and knows where all the running plays go we went with a straight running game,” he said.
    When players are dropping like that, it is hard to come back when you have no extra players to put in those positions,” he said.
    He gives their opponents credit for playing a good game.
    “Lacombe came out and set the tone and pace of the game. They just brought it to us. They had that extra gear off the hop,” he said.
    Lacombe won 33-15.
    Despite the lost, this was one of the most successful seasons ever for the Bantams. They finished with a 3-2 regular season record. This was the first time they finished with a winning record.
    Looking to the future, Zackrisson says they will have some building to do. Of the 25-player roster this season, he is seeing 14 graduate to the senior team, most of them solid players.
    “This is very good things for the seniors and coach Ken Fournier is excited about it,” said Zackrisson. “The seniors have some bright years coming up with those guys coming up.”
    He adds some will get a chance to play with the seniors come playoffs.
    Coach Zackrisson has had some of the Peewee Terrapins come up and practice with the bantams, readying them for next season.
    “They look pretty promising, I hope some will have a bit of a growth spurt through the winter, but other than that we’ll be fine. The peewee program is beneficial for the Bantams.