Right: Morinville King Thomas Carr keeps his eye on a Fort Saskatchewan Chief player during the second period of the Kings’ home opener Oct. 1. – Stephen Dafoe Photo
by Stephen Dafoe
The Morinville Senior AA Kings hit the ice at the Landrex Arena on Oct. 1 to start the 2022-2023 North Central Senior Hockey League season with a home opener against the visiting Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs. That outing ended in a 13-2 victory for the Kings.
The Kings came out strong in the first period, outshooting the Chiefs 14-4 and capitalizing on roughly 20 per cent of those chances to lead the period 3-1.
The middle frame saw the Kings and Chiefs evenly matched on scoring opportunities, but Kings’ backstop Ty Swabb deflected all 14 of Fort Saskatchewan’s attempts, while the Chiefs let in another three of the Kings’ shots on net. Swabb would ultimately stop 22 of the 24 pucks sent his way.
Leading the game 6-1 heading into the third, the Kings dominated the period, scoring another seven goals to the Chiefs’ single contribution. Four of those goals game in the last five minutes.
Kings President Wayne Gatza is anticipating another solid season for the Kings.
“It’s going to be a good season—we’ve got our core back, and we’ve added a couple of guys from the U of A’s Golden Bears and another guy from Grant McEwan,” Gatza said. “Our new recruits are looking good. We lost a few, but we replaced them with better players. I think it’s going to be a great year, fun, and we should be right up at the top again.”
The Kings play three more games this month. All three games are road games. They play Lacombe on Oct. 15, Devon on Oct. 21, and Westlock on Oct. 29. The club returns to the Landrex arena on Nov. 5 for an 8 p.m. game against the Devon Barons.
Morinville King rookie Richard Kelly and Fort Saskatchewan Chief Dayton Heino battle for the puck behind the Chiefs net during the second period of the Kings’ home opener Oct. 1 – Stephen Dafoe Photo
