By Darren Bayrack /
The Calgary Flyers have opened the season with a 6-1 record following a 4-1 win over the Bruins Oct. 18 at Murray Copot Arena in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League.
Goalie Kiera Olson has surrendered less than a goal a game in the Flyers net to open the season with a 4-0 record.
She was strong again Sunday making 16 saves and only allowing a third-period goal while the Calgary Bruins enjoyed a two-man advantage.
“My play is a lot better than last year,” explained Olson, who skated with the Calgary Chaos last season.
She credits team defense for the Flyers outstanding start saying, “they take away the back-door player a lot and they just don’t allow a lot of breakaways.”
The 16-year-old goalie notes that head coach Pat Loyer likes to play the hot hand and she has split time with teammate Ashley Crosser between the pipes.
Loyer is in his first season behind the Flyers bench and brings a wealth of coaching experience from leagues such as the WHL and the AJHL in addition to operating the Defenders Hockey School in Calgary.
“Our coach is really big on hard work,” Olson explained. “If we are not working hard, we’ll know it.”
The Flyers managed to keep much of the core of their team together for the current season with six returning forwards and four defencemen coming back as well. The three Calgary-area squads in the AMMFHL are allowed to protect six players and the remaining skaters go into an annual draft. According to Loyer, his team was fortunate to take Olsen in the draft.
“She is just rock solid,” he explained. “What’s really good is you never see Kiera make any outstanding saves because she is always in good position. She always makes it look easy.
She’s square to the shooter, she’s aggressive and she really works hard in practice.
“She has been a real pleasant surprise. I knew that when we picked her that she was a good goalie, but she is, to me, the best goalie in this league right now.”
Loyer credits good work from all three lines and his coaching staff, including assistant Joe Deiure, for the Flyers impressive start to the season.
Head coach Becky McGee in entering her third season leading her AAA Bruins who have recorded a 4-5 record.
“The season is going well,” said McGee. “I think the last couple of games we had slow starts and made a few crucial mistakes against some good teams in our league and it’s hard to battle back.”
Down 3-0 after one period against the Flyers, the Bruins played the game even the rest of the way.
“I think we just settled in,” said McGee. “We’re trying to get across to our girls that we need to set the tempo of the game. We can’t come out and get down three goals that quick, or it’s tough to get back.”
The Bruins coaching staff will continue to stress the importance of competing on every shift as the year progresses.
“We really have to break down the game into small pieces,” said McGee. “It’s got to be about winning every individual battle for us right now. The tactics are starting to come but it really is about winning the battles, the small battles on the ice.”
Lindsey Cunningham scored the lone goal for the Bruins and is tied for fourth in league scoring with 11 points. |
