Saturday Evening in Bantam Hockey

Saskatchewan SBAAHL
West Central Wheat Kings 5 - Yorkton UCT Terriers 3
The Western Canadian Bantam Championship hosts got off on the right foot in the season opener with a 5-3 win over a pretty good Yorkton squad.  West Central would build up a 4-1 lead early in the 3rd period thanks to a 3 goal and 1 assists effort from Ryder Kissick and a pair of helpers from Kyle Bosch.  The Wheat Kings also got a goal from highly touted Garrett Pilon to salt this one away late in the 3rd after Yorkton closed the gap to 4-3.  Yorkton got singles in this one from '99 born Tyler Stratechuk, Matthew Wilgosh and Brett Melnychuk.  Justen Close from West Central was very strong, turning aside 38/41 shots he faced.  Close will be closely watched this season.

Prince Albert Venice House Raiders 9 - Notre Dame AA Hounds 0
The Venice House Raiders scored 3 goals in each period and out-shoot Notre Dame 36-15 in an easy 9-0 victory.  One of the returning players for the Raiders - Tanner Fiddler scored 3 goals and added 1 assist....'99 born Riley Sawchuk had 1-2-3, Reid Manson 0-3-3 and Drew Warkentine, the brother of former first rounder and current Moose Jaw Warrior Miles Warkentine had 2 goals.  Carson Remy stopped all 15 shots he faced in the win.

Alberta AMBHL
Red Deer Rebels Black 8 - Fort Saskatchewan Rangers 3
Red Deer Black move to 3-1-0 and the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers fall to 0-2-0 after the Rebels cruise to an easy 8-3 victory on Saturday.  Leading the way for the Rebels was big Luke Coleman with 3 goals, he now has 5 goals in 4 games.  Jeff DeWit and Matthew Froehlick each scored a pair.  Grayden Larson stopped 19/22 in the win.  Fort Sask got 1-1-2 from Brandon Hagel, he now has 4 pts in his first two games, the next best on the team has just a single point.

Southeast Hockey  Hounds 9 - Red Deer Rebels White 3
The Hockey Hounds finally earn their first win  and in convincing fashion by beating the now 2-3-0 Rebels White 9-3.  Tyr Thompson, the son of former pugilist Rocky Thompson scored his first 3 goals of the season and also added an assist.  Michael Clarke picked up 2 goals and 1 assisst while Jordan Taupert had 1-4-5.  Taupert leads the team in scoring through 4 games with 2-5-7 now.  The Rebels White continued to be led by the one man show known as Tyler Steenbergen who scored all 3 goals in the game.  Steenbergen has 11 goals and 4 assists already in 5 games.

 Lethbridge Golden Hawks 6 - Spruce Grove PAC Saints 3
Lethbridge move to 3-1-0 and Spruce Grove is now 1-2-0 after the Golden Hawks double up the Saints 6-3.  Grayson Constable once again paced the Lethbridge attack with 2-2-4.  Constable now has 3-7-10 in his first 4 games.  Tyler Anderson also put up 2-2-4 and has 8 points and 5 goals while Jed Horvath had 1-3-4.  Anthony Suriano stopped 22/25 for the win.  Luc Smith scored 2 goals for the Saints and now has 4 goals and leads the team.

Edmonton SSAC 5 - Lloydminster Heat 5
Both SSAC and Lloydminster remain undefeated after a 5-5 tie.  Top rated prospect Tyler Benson had 2-2-4 and now has 15 points in 4 games to start the season.  Nolan Yaremko notched another 2 goals for the Lions, giving him 4-6-10.  Lloydminster got another big game from Mason Shaw who picked up 2-2-4, Shaw is off to a blazing start with 6-5-11 this season.  Top ranked Dman Kale Clague had 1-2-3, giving him  7 points in the early going while '99 born scoring star Zane Franklin picked up a pair of helpers and now has 8 points in 3 games.

Sherwood Park Flyers 5 - Leduc 5 
Sam Steel picked up yet another 3 goals in leading the Flyers to a 5-5 tie with Leduc.  Steel now has 8-6-14 in his first 4 games, which is 7 more than the next player on the team - Skyler Mckenzie.  Speaking of Mckenzie, he added 3 helpers in this one.  For Leduc, they got goals from 5 different players with D- Dalton Hamaliuk, Noah Gregor and Tyson Gruninger each had 1-1-2.

News and Notes
There is a 98 Super Series taking place south of the border with one Western USA team taking part.  The Colorado Thunderbirds, who are one of the better teams overall in the USA are there and finished with a 1-0-4 record.  That's right, 4 ties for the Thunderbirds!  Max Gerlach and Jaden Anderson led the way for the Thunderbirds with 3 goals each.  Both Gerlach and Anderson are in our WEHP top 40 western USA prospects.  Goalie Austin Park was impressive in the super series.