Saddle Lake just misses league title

Page

The Saddle Lake Warriors fell at the final hurdle to the North Eastern Alberta Junior "B" Hockey League champion Lloydminster Bandits, losing games five and six of the best-of-seven final by scores of 5-4 and 6-5. The Bandits had taken a two-game lead with wins of 9-6 and 4-3 in the first two games, but the Warriors stormed back into it with a huge 8-1 win in game three and a 6-3 victory in game four.

Ryan Trottier and Kevin Lewis led the team offensively, while goalie Clarence Sparklingeyes came up big between the pipes when it mattered. The heart-breaking losses ended a great season for the Warriors club, who had swept the quarter-final series with the Lac La Biche Clippers 4-0, and done the same thing to the Vermilion Tigers in the semi-final.

In the past, it was difficult to get players to commit to Saddle Lake for the hockey season, but 1996-97 was a turn-around year for the Warriors. Instead of having to recruit, coaches Dean Smyl and Ted Grayling sat by the phone and took calls from hopeful players.

"It's a lot easier to sell a team that's winning that a team that's losing," assistant coach Grayling said. "Everybody who got cut from junior "A" called us this year."

The Warriors used that strong player base to become a contender this year. Going into the final series, the Warriors were perhaps the hottest junior team in the province, with only a couple of losses in the second half of the season.

"We had a good group of returning guys," Grayling continued. "In junior 'B,' 11 returning players is a lot. One of the advantages we have is that we, as coaches, are able to put in so much time into coaching the team."

"We talk about what we did and what we didn't do," said head coach Smyl. Grayling and Smyl are room mates.

"We made one major change this year," Smyl continued. "Last year, half way through, we had about a 65 per cent dedication rate, but we got it up to, say, 90 per cent this year. That made a lot of difference."

The big difference, though, may be the two coaches themselves. League president John Kelly credits Smyl and Grayling with turning the Warriors franchise into a winner.

"Since these two guys have been here coaching," he said, "the Warriors can suck it up when they're behind and win the game. The kids haven't just learned about the game in the ice, they've learned about it in here," he said, tapping his chest. "This club has a lot of character with Smyl and Grayling behind the bench."

On the ice, Saddle Lake was fortunate to have the league's leading scorer in captain Robin Gilbert, a 21-year-old left winger from Williams Lake, B.C., who came to the Warriors last season from the junior "B" club in Golden, B.C.

"I think we were going to finish second in the regular season," Gilbert said, "but Lac La Biche protested the last game of the season, and we lost some points because one of our [midget] players had been technically ineligible to play. But everybody just wanted to win, and the protest just kind of pulled the team together a bit more."

"We had a good overall season, and we have to be satisfied with what we've been able to do," said 19-year-old Mark Steinhauer from Saddle Lake. He finished second to Gilbert in team scoring, and fourth in the league. "I'm just happy to be able to contribute, and I played right wing, defence, centre - whatever's been needed during the game."

"This season in Saddle Lake has been good for the league," Kelly said of the Warriors' success. "They've had a tough time of it in the past, but they probably draw the best of any team in the league."

"We were sold out for all of our semi-final and final games," Smyl said. "That's got to help us out for next year.

"I think that everybody will want to play here next year," he continued. "We'll probably lose 10 or 12 of our players over the summer, but I expect that we'll put together a good competitive team in 1997-98."