The Airdrie Thunder started its season off by giving up three goals to the Three Hills Thrashers in the opening frame of the Sept. 23 home opener, and dropping the contest 5-4.
The club then went on to beat the Mountainview Colts 12-2 on Sept. 24, and fought to a 2-2 tie with the Medicine Hat Cubs Sept. 25 at home.
Thunder Head Coach Art Krusel said the squad came out very flat in the first period of the home opener, but the team improved throughout the night.
“We really didn’t seem to be that motivated or ready to play in that first period,” said Krusel. “I thought that Three Hills had more jump than us.”
The Thunder battled back on the two goals from Ben Sherven, but were unable to get the tying goal in a scoreless third period.
“Just one of those days, we had a bad first period, a decent second and a pretty good third period,” said Krusel. “They came out with some good jump, we gave them some goals, and they made the best out of it.”
The decisive 12-2 win over Mountain View saw a lot of players pull down points, but nobody on the team seemed to amass a selfish number of points.
Thunder walk-on Ryan Preston tallied four helpers during the Colts win, while the brand new thunder line of Matt Flette, Danny Hounjet and Preston impressed Krusel.
“They are all well rounded complete players, to them, passing the puck to the right guy is the right play,” said Krusel. “They are not greedy, they know what needs to get done.”
One challenge that Krusel said may have made a negative impact on the weekend was the lack of experienced blueliners, with three veterans out with injuries.
Tanner Kocis, Ryan Russel and Mitch Duncan, all of whom have years of experience with the team, were either out, or played minimal time during the weekend.
“These guys have a lot of experience, which means a lot on the back end,” said Krusel.
Thunder starting goaltender Logan Marlow had a very solid weekend, facing a total of 97 shots over the weekend and, other than a tough 5 goal game against Three Hills, impressed Krusel.
“He had a horrible first period against Three Hills, but he has not had hardly any game time in the preseason because I have to find a backup.
Even during practice, he has to share ice and time with the other guys,” said Krusel.
“He was a lot better in the second and third periods of that game, and he was phenomenal in Didsbury. If he had played like that on Friday, it would have been a 0-0 first period.”
Krusel said a three-point opening weekend is fine with him, considering his team is still gelling, and he will be patient with the development of the team over the course of the year.
“I have players all over the place that can play, and are playing, but where do I put them, and who do I put them with, that’s the big issue with me right now,” said Krusel. “We are still developing this team. The development will take a while longer yet and we are going to be patient with it. We won’t press any panic buttons.”
The Thunder play the Coaldale Copperheads at home Sept. 30 at the Ron Ebbesen Arena. Game time is 8 p.m.
