January 20, 2012
Posted in Alberta Edition, Minor Midget
By Derrick Newman /
Beating the best teams is usually a good sign that you are on the right track towards success.
For the Leduc Remax Oil Kings in the Northern Conference Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League, getting wins against those top teams is the only way they can stay in the mix with so many good teams jockeying for position.
Thankfully for head coach Ryan Rechner and the rest of the defending champion Oil Kings, the team is starting to hit their stride winning seven out of their last eight games.
“Of late thing are going really well,” Rechner said. “We struggled out of the gate a bit trying to find our identity as a group, but we were able to move past that.”
“Our PP has been really good this year, close to 30 per cent for the season, which is huge, especially with the way the game has changed with the hits to the head. “
The Oil Kings, who rank as the highest scoring team in the Northern Conference, are led by Braden Jakubowski and Tyson Markowski who rank second and third respectively in league scoring.
Jakubowski has 34 points, including 20 goals, in 21 games, while Markowski has 17 goals and 15 assists in 22 games to put the Oil Kings in third place, only five points back of the first place Lloydminister Rohan Rage.
“Braden and Tyson are definitely our top guys,” Rechner said. “Other than them though, we still have guys that are contributing like Liam Gregor and Cole Chorney.”
“Even guys I didn’t expect to score very much, guys closer to the bottom of the line-up. They are chipping in, so that’s always helpful.”
The entire conference is tight with little to no room for error with the top seven teams separated by just ten points.
“It’s really really tough,” the first year Oil Kings bench boss said. “You go through a couple games where you aren’t playing very well and you go from second to sixth.”
“Even the bottom teams, if you don’t show up to play, they can take two points.
This was never truer when the 2-17-3 Grande Prairie BP Storm upended the 13-6-3 SSAC United Cycle Bulldogs 3-2 on January 6th.
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Alberta Minor Midget: South Division Wrap
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