The regular season ended two weekends ago for Drumheller Minor Hockey, but a few of the Raptors are still in the hunt for championships in their leagues.
As described on page 12, the Midget team is getting set to advance in the playoffs this upcoming weekend.
The DMHA Novice Raptors had their first round of playoffs against Strathmore, who, the team had not been able to defeat all season.
On Saturday, February 25, the Novice Raptors made the journey to Strathmore to open the playoffs. Unfortunately, Strathmore continued their dominance and won 5-4.
The goals had gone back and forth throughout the game and late in the third it was tied 4-4. A goal at 17:46 into the third by Strathmore gave them the edge and the Novice Raptors couldn’t catch up.
The next day, the Novice Raptors had to beat the team that was, for them, unbeatable. It was a desperate struggle for the Raptors, but they prevailed and won 11-8.
“The beauty of it was that we hadn’t beat Strathmore all year long,” said head coach Tony Pliva. “We had a convincing win on Sunday and that got everyone’s spirits up.”
James Zuccatto, a defenseman for the Raptors, stepped up for the playoffs and delivered seven of the Raptors eleven goals.
“All of the kids have been doing great,” said Pliva. “James really stepped up and helped us get the win on Sunday.”
The Novice Raptors will be in Strathmore again this weekend to win the best of three series and put an end to Strathmore’s playoffs.
The Encana Atom Raptors, sadly have been ousted from their playoffs by Nanton.
The two teams met on Saturday in Nanton for their first game. After two periods, the Atom Raptors were down by two and desperately needed goals, which were delivered by Samuel Gridley and Jarred Schrock. The game was tied and headed to overtime.
Just under a minute into overtime, Nanton scored and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
The Atom Raptors came home the next day and needed a win if they were to survive in the playoffs. Three goals in the first period, and another later on, proved to be insurmountable. The Atom Raptors season ended.
The Hi-Way 9 Pee Wee Raptors are moving to the next round in their playoffs. The team was up against Okotoks-Green in their first round at the Drumheller Memorial Arena.
On Saturday, the Pee Wee Raptors dominated the scoreboard, scoring six goals, and had a resilient defensive game, allowing one goal.
The next day, the Pee Wee Raptors were in Okotoks for game two. A loss by the Raptors would send the series to game three.
Okotoks were in a corner and hit the Raptors with everything they had.
The Pee Wee Raptors had a 4-2 lead after two periods. However, Okotoks would not be defeated without a fight and rallied to shrink the lead by one at 8:56 into the third. Dillan Witt responded five minutes later with a goal for the Raptors.
Okotoks racked up one more goal with just over a minute left in the game and scrambled for another, but the Raptors held firm. The Pee Wee Raptors will be heading deeper into the playoffs.
Lastly, the Boston Pizza/Western Chevrolet Bantam Raptors had their first playoff game on the road this weekend on Saturday against Medicine Hat-Black.
The Bantam Raptors routed Medicine Hat and won 4-0. The two teams will meet again, in Drumheller this time, on Saturday, March 3 at 1:45 p.m.
One Raptor has fallen out of the playoff race, but four teams are left, eating up the competition in an effort to be named league champions.
