The Sylvan Lake Yettis are off to a great start this season, earning a huge win at the home opener Wednesday night.
The Yettis are starting their march to the championship right out of the gate with a 23-1 win over the Olds Stingers on April 24.
With a huge win early in the season, Head Coach Cal Thudium says he has been warning the team not to get a big head.
“It’s like I told the team after the game, the score doesn’t mean much to me,” said Thudium.
“This early in the year it doesn’t say much and we can’t let it go to our head.”
Thudium says the team needs to focus on getting better with each period and each game.
“We can’t allow ourselves to get on a high after a game like that… this game doesn’t mean much and we are still a long way off from the championship,” Thudium said.
The team played a heavy handed offence, and quickly racked up the points, starting with Braydon McLaughlin smashing the first goal through to the back of the net.
While the team was able to overcome the Stingers, Thudium says there is still work to be done on their offence.
“We need to put more of a focus on a five man offence. We need to have every player on the court playing,” he said.
Before the season began, Thudium had some worries about the team and penalties.
Players from the Yettis spent a total of 20 minutes in the penalty box for reasons varying from slashing to interference.
However, Thudium believes the team recovered well, despite the time spent in the box.
“We did have a bit of trouble [with penalties], but I think the guys recovered well and were quick to respond to each mistake made. I don’t think we will have much trouble moving forward,” said Thudium.
In the second period of the April 24 game, the Yettis picked up an outstanding 12 points, while their adversaries made it past their defence for their single point of the game.
The home team finished the first game of the season with another six points in the third period for a final score of 23-1.
The Yettis are on the road over the weekend. They have three away games before returning to the NexSource Centre on May 5.
“This yearly in the season it is hard to say what we are up against and what the other teams have got. We have to take it one game at a time.”
The Yettis will play the Strathmore Venom on May 5 with a start time of 3:30 p.m. scheduled.
