By Ryan Laverty /
There is a message being spouted in dressing rooms around the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League’s Charger North division – keep working and success will come.
Problem is, at this point, those words are ringing hollow in every room but one.
The Fort Saskatchewan Winner’s Way Rangers have been almost unbeatable this season, rising to the top of the divisional ranks from the first weekend of the season and never relinquishing the spot.
At press time, the Rangers had secured 30 of a possible 38 points to start the season and have managed to keep even the most voracious challenger — second-place Leduc Allen’s Transport — at bay.
“Truly, we don’t put a lot of emphasis on what other teams are doing around us because we really don’t have any control over that,” explained Rangers head coach Levi Lypka.
“Our goal is to make it to the North final this year and, obviously, finishing first in the division would help with that. But we’re more concerned about what we do on the ice and we’ve been fortunate that we’ve had a great start.”
Fortunate might infer a bit of luck was at play, but the Rangers have benefited more from offensive skill and country-kid size than from any sort of external fortune bestowed upon them.
With 111 goals for so far, Fort Saskatchewan is second to Leduc by one goal in the league scoring race with two games in hand.
Still, with 63 goals against, Lypka is far from finished teaching his crew of snipers this season.
“You gotta love scoring goals to play hockey, but we have to remember there are times to look for goals and a time to protect against them,” said Lypka. “We’re happy with where we are so far, but we still have a lot of things to work on before we get to playoffs.”
ICE CHIPS
The South Side Athletic Club Southgate Lions will host this year’s AMBHL all-star game at Clare Drake Arena on the University of Alberta campus on Jan. 9, 2010. At least one representative from all 12 North and 10 South teams will be invited to the game. Game time on Jan. 9 is 1:30 p.m. Check out www.ambhl.ab.ca for more details on the event. |
