It was a typical Sunday afternoon for Tyler Wong and Kyle Pauls.
The two skilled second-year Airdrie Xtreme forwards each had a four-point effort to lead the Bantam AAA team as it doubled up the Medicine Hat Hockey Hounds 8-4 at the Ron Ebbesen Arena, Oct. 17.
Wong had two goals and two assists, while Pauls had a goal and three assists. Linemate Mackenzie Bauer added a goal and an assist, while Colby Chartier, Connor Boyd, Tristan Thompson and Ryan Zeniuk also scored. Malcolm Walilko earned the win in net.
With the win, the Xtreme moves to 5W-2L on the season and currently sit in second place, behind the Lethbridge Golden Hawks, in the Ram South division of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
But the team’s overall intensity, which wavered during the second and third periods, was a cause of concern for head coach Terry Keogh.
“We only played as well as we had to and that’s a terrible thing to get comfortable with,” he said. “We need to come out and play at our level for 60 minutes regardless of who is on the other side.”
Wong gave Airdrie a 1-0 lead 7:45 into the first, when he walked in from the blue line and went high glove side on 6’2” Hockey Hounds’ goalie Dan Maier.
Chartier made it 2-0 on a shorthanded breakaway at 13:55, before Wong undressed four Medicine Hat players and put another one top shelf on the power play two minutes later.
“He was all over the ice and the rest of the team takes their cue from him,” Keogh said of Wong.
Thompson put the Xtreme up 4-0 on a power play point shot six minutes into the second, before Matt Van Der Sloot tallied for the Hockey Hounds at the 8:57 mark. Zeniuk’s backhanded effort restored the four-goal lead three minutes later, but the Xtreme lagged again and gave up a lucky bounce goal to Donoven Quintin.
The Hockey Hounds made it 5-3, 22 seconds into the third, when Mitch Hallas completed a three-way passing play.
Bauer and Medicine Hat’s Riley Risling then traded goals, before Pauls and Boyd added insurance markers.
“We have got to stay disciplined and we’ve got to stay focused, but give Medicine Hat credit, as they kept coming back,” Keogh said.
“We get comfortable and complacent, but fortunately today we stepped it up when we needed to. When we start playing against better clubs later in the season we won’t have that luxury. The difference between a good club and a great club is that the great club will come out and keep their foot on the accelerator. This is the time of year to get the message through.”
The Xtreme will travel to Spruce Grove on Oct. 23 to face the PAC Saints, before returning home to host the Red Deer Rebels Black on Oct. 24. Game time is 1 p.m. at the Ron Ebbesen Arena.
