Ice’s Playoff Dreams Halted

Photo Credit: Game Ready Photography

The Cold Lake Jr. B Ice’s post-season has come to an end with a loss against Wainwright Wednesday night at Imperial Oil Place. The Ice were unable to collect a win in the series that saw the final game end in a 5-3 loss for Cold Lake.

“We’re going to stick to the game plan, from the first game of exhibition, in September, to now,” Assistant Coach, of the Ice, Shawn Coles, said pregame that the team will continue doing what they do best and if anything tighten up their original game plan.

The Ice commanded an impressive lead on the Bison, putting up two goals in the first period. Both goals scored by Jonah Henderson; with Steven Kufflick, Scott Thackeray assisting on the first and Deni Kantel on the second.

Wainwright was unable to answer until the second period, when  Chandler Klein put up back-to-back goals to even the score. The Bison got the go-ahead with only seconds left on the clock in the second period, from  Tanner Fleck.

The Ice responded quick in the third, with an unassisted goal, at 1:35, from fan favourite, Jean-Guy Boisvert. It was a 3-3 game.

The tie was broken, shorthanded, by the Wainwright Bisons’ Zach MacKay

On a decision no coach would argue with, the Ice pulled goalie Nelson Schiiler with 45 minutes left in the game, in an attempt to take the Bison with the extra man. The decision sadly backfired and ended with the Bisons’  Dawson Atamanchuk putting in an empty-netter for a 5-3 final.

“We lost to a great team, and battled hard.” Head Coach, for the Ice, Scott Hood, says he was proud of his team’s gritty efforts, “they never quit… It was a great group of kids that showed up every night. They worked hard every game and playoffs too. We’re pretty proud of them.”

Next year starts now. – Scott Hood, Head Coach Cold Lake Jr. B Ice

The Wainwright Bison will meet the winner of the Frog Lake v. Killiam series in the final round of the playoffs. Frog Lake leads the series 3-1 with game 5 in Killiam on Friday evening.