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Game Summaries - League Play

**Statistical summaries can be found on the HJHL Website www.heritagejuniorb.com by Clicking the Boxscores link**

Saturday, October 8/05: League game #4 - Flyers 3 Express 7

The Flyers needed a strong start after the lacklustre performance the previous evening & they got it when rookie Curtis Vannatta scored 48 second into the game - he was assisted by two other rookies, Justin Vaage & Brett Wegener. Unfortunately that's all the Flyers could manage for the first period as they were outshot 20-7 & ended up down 2-1 to the team from Lethbridge. The hometown boys came out flying in the second again & scored 2 goals in the first 1:42 - by David Browning & Colin Baustad. But again the Express came back with strong play of their own to end the period up 4-3. For some reason the Flyers couldn't muster a strong performance in the 3rd & allowed the Express to score 3 more for the 7-3 win.

GM Quote: "The team knew they had to come out strong but for some reason they seemed to think the start was enough & let the Express back in. The coaches reminded the boys that they have to play the entire period & we came out strong again in the second but withered again. In the third we were just outclassed - the Express players were way more disciplined & tried a lot harder than our guys. With Airdrie & Cochrane coming up next weekend we had better learn that we can't slow down at any time or we'll pay for it."

Friday, October 7/05: League game #3 - Flyers 7 Rockmen 4

The Livingstone Rockmen were looking for revenge Friday night when they visited the Flyers in High River for the 2 teams' 3rd meeting in a week. The Flyers had soundly beaten the Rockmen 12-5 & 9-2 in their previous 2 meetings so the team from Claresholm definitely had something to prove - they came out with much more enthusiasm than the High River squad & took an early lead en route to a 3-2 first period lead. The Flyers got their first period goals from JC Seitz & Rob McIntosh. The Flyers coaches may have peeled the paint off the walls in the first intermission - whatever they did it seemed to work as the team came out with much more drive & scored 3 unanswered (by Curtis Vannatta, Rob McIntosh, & Logan Dixon) for a 5-3 2nd intermission lead. The third period was more defensive by both squads until Flyer Paul Brennand gave the hometown team a 3-goal lead at 16:59. The Rockmen answered 31 second later but the Flyers sealed the deal with a late goal by local player David Browning.

GM Quote: "We definitely came out unprepared for the Rockmen's work effort in the first. Once the guys settled down we controlled the game better. Some of the players that were victimized in the first period really picked it up in the second. The goal spread in the game isn't what we have gotten in this season's previous games against the Rockmen, but a win is still a win & we'll take it. We definitely need to get better in our own end & play with more enthusiasm if we want to compete against the stonger teams in this league. We'll just chalk this game up as a learning experience."

Sunday, October 2/05: League game #2 - Flyers 9 Rockmen 2

The Flyers were looking to get back to .500 when they traveled back to Claresholm for the second time in 3 days. This time the league game meant more though & the team came to play, going up 3-0 after the first with goals from Justin Vaage, Simon Ommedal, & Brett Wegener. The Flyers got 2 more early in the second (Vaage & Paul Brennand) before the Rockmen could finally find the net behind the strong goaltending by Jeff Burgess. The Flyers got 2 more though by Mark Oldfield & Brandon Knittle before the second period ended with an 8-1 Flyers lead. Knittle & Brennand each got their second early in the third period until the Rockmen scored the final goal of the game.

GM Quote: "We had some injuries from the Bisons' game last night, so it was important for the few guys that played to come out strong. It was nice to see scoring from other guys today - Justin Vaage & Simon Ommedal played very well & took a step forward in their development & confidence. Yet again our goaltending was strong - we will have a chance every game with the 'tenders playing like they have been."

Saturday, October 1/05: League game #1 - Flyers 1 Bisons 5

The 2005/06 season started on the first day of October with a good test for the Flyers. They had to take on last season's league champion Okotoks Bisons. The Flyers' players knew they were in tough when they were outshot 22-8 in the first period but were saved by the tremendous play of goaltender Brad Dreger when the Bisons were only leading 1-0. The second was a little closer in shots but the Bisons were able to capitalize on a couple of power plays to go into the third with a 3-0 lead. The Flyers came out stronger in the third, outshooting the Bisons 13-8 but got down 5-0 before captain Brandon Knittle scored late on a power play to ruin the Bison's shutout bid. The game was marred by a few Bisons players coming off the bench to start a fight with Flyers d-man Colin Baustad - one Bison players was suspended for 3 games because of the incident.

GM Quote: "The game was a great test. Even know we lost the game, it was a lot closer than the score indicated. We held them to only 5 goals, a feat not many teams will accomplish this season - but we couldn't have done it without Dreger's great play. It's very positive as we feel that we will only get better from this point on - we feel we can continue to compete with all the teams in the division this season which will make it very exciting for such a young team."