The Sylvan Lake Wranglers have had a great start to their Heritage Junior Hockey League playoff journey, sweeping the best-of-five series against the Airdrie Thunder on Thursday, Feb. 29.
The Wranglers played the Thunder on Feb. 24, Feb. 27, and Feb. 29 with two games in Sylvan Lake at the NexSource Centre and one game in Airdrie.
Anytime you can beat a team three straight and advance, it’s a good thing, head coach Pat Garrity said.
“For your hockey team, it means less travel, fewer minutes played, and less wear and tear, so we are happy with the way that we have started off the playoffs for sure.”
The Wranglers opened the series with a 6-1 win before winning Game 2 5-2 and closing the series out with a 7-2 victory.
Over the series Aydden Shaw and Justin Gyori scored three times, Justin Vandermeer, Hayden Motowylo, Bret Gerrits and team captain Tyson Tisdale scored twice, and Ryan Wyzykoski, Reed Sparrow, Maddex Bignell and Austin Corsiatto scored once.
The Wranglers opened their semi-final best-of-five series with the Medicine Hat Cubs on Sunday, March 3 and picked up a 2-1 double overtime victory at home.
Bret Gerrits played the hero, scoring the winner just past the midway point of the second overtime period. Austin Corsiatto opened the scoring for the Wranglers and Peyton Lobe made 29 saves to earn the win in net.
The Cubs are a very worthy opponent, Garrity said.
“The Cubs are a very well-coached team,” he said.
“They play a very hard style, have got an exception power play, forecheck extremely hard, and are just a very formidable opponent.”
Garrity added his team needs to bring their A-game if they hope to advance to the league final.
“We are going to have to be at the top of our game to be successful in this series against the Cubs,” Garrity said.
Game 2 of the series is set for Thursday, March 7 at 8 p.m. at the NexSource Centre.
“This is the best team we have had here since we moved to Sylvan Lake and we hope the community jumps on board and comes out to watch and support these guys in their run,” Garrity said.