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Innisfail runs out of gas to lose Bantam hockey title

The Innisfail Flyers were less than a period away from being champions but as valiant as they were they could not hold off a late rally by the Olds Bantam Chiefs.

The Innisfail Flyers were less than a period away from being champions but as valiant as they were they could not hold off a late rally by the Olds Bantam Chiefs.

When the final buzzer sounded Olds won 7 – 4 in the deciding game of the three-game series to claim the North Central Minor Hockey Association (NCMHA) championship on April 11.

The Flyers won the series opener at the Olds Sportsplex 5-0 March 21 before the Chiefs drew even with a 6-1 victory in Innisfail on March 22.

Brent Walker, coach of the Flyers, said his team ran out of steam after it went up 4-2 and couldn’t hold off the surging Chiefs.

“We just didn’t have the gas to keep them away. They’ve got a very offensive team. Olsen on their team, he lit us up a bit in that game and … I think the better team at the end of the day ended up winning,” said Flyers coach Brent Walker. “It could have went either way that night but they ended winning. It was a really good series.”

Dane Anderson, the Chiefs’ coach, said the nearly three-week layoff between the second and third game was tough, as there was limited practice time in-between.

“Both teams were in the same boat and it probably wasn’t the most ideal game but they still had heart to do it,” he said.

“The first two periods (of the final game) they were overworking. They were just panicking a little bit, trying to do everything as opposed to just simplifying the game and making the right passes,” Anderson said of his Olds squad.

The Flyers jumped out to a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes on two goals by Ryan Spiller and one from Kaiden Rankin. Chase Olsen and Bernd Van ‘Klooster replied for the Chiefs.

When the Flyers took a 4-2 lead at 1:50 of the third period on a goal by Brenton Wood, Anderson said the Chiefs responded well with a renewed sense of urgency, winning many of the puck battles. The Chiefs scored five unanswered goals — including a natural hat trick from Ryan Klinck — one by Olsen and one by Van ‘Klooster.

“There was two goals in 42 seconds there that just changed the total momentum and attitude for them and they just realized they could do it,” Anderson said, noting that the Chiefs took advantage of their speed as the series wore on.

Anderson said the two teams battled hard throughout the season and the top two teams in the league battled hard throughout the final.

He said the Chiefs will be having a large turnover for next season with only five first-year players on the team this season. He said the team should be competitive next season, with several good players on their way up from peewee.

“They’ll be very competitive next year,” he said.

Like the Chiefs, the Flyers had a large contingent of final-year players and will be looking to the graduates of the peewee program to fill out the roster next season. Only two players are eligible to come back for the 2011-12 season.

“I think there’s five or six (players) that are playing on the bantam As that are good potentials for (next) year and then there’s a couple on the peewee double As (that will help). Goaltending, we’ve got … (a) good goaltender coming up. Assuming they all make the team, they should be good,” Walker said.

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