Taber Oil Kings back on the ice for new hockey season

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

The time has come for the Taber Oil King hockey teams to return to the ice as they compete in the Central Alberta Hockey League’s tiering portion of the schedule.

U11 Tier 4

The U11 Taber Oil Kings began their tiering schedule with a pair of games over last weekend. First up, the Oil Kings travelled north to take on the Vauxhall Sabres. Taber scored early and often in the game and the team emerged victorious with an 18-5 win in their first game. Luke Engwer had two goals and three assists in the game while Mitchell Kimoto had a hat trick and an assist, Logan Rabusic, Wyatt Valgardson, and Barrett DeVlieger all had hat tricks. Dalan Blasetti had a goal and two assists, Lincoln Braun had a pair of goals, Luca Nielsen chipped in with a goal and an assist, and Ryden Baker had two assists in the win. Dylan Volk got the start between the pipes and the goalie made 35 saves on 40 shots.

On Sunday, the offence continued to do damage as the team welcomed in Pincher Creek and handed the visiting team a 19-0 loss. Valgardson had a hat trick and three assists, Engwer had two goals and three assists, Kimoto had a hat trick and an assist, Blasetti had a hat trick, and Cooper Ross, Rabusic, and Nielsen all had a goal and two assists. DeVlieger chipped in with two goals, Braun, Samuel Hathaway, and Baker all had a goal and an assist, and Cage Holcek, Baron Stang, Jaxson Tychsen, and Hudson Ilczynski all had two assists in the win. Volk was once again got the start for the Oil Kings.

U13 Tier 4

It was a pair of close games this past weekend for the U13 Oil Kings as they started their new campaign. On Friday, the team travelled to Picture Butte to face off against the Blades. Both teams saw plenty of goals in the game, but the home team would pot one more goal with a 10-9 victory. Ryder Nielsen had a hat trick and an assist in the loss while Hayden Eldridge had two goals and two assists, Julian Woordman had a pair of goals, Austin Odland and Jaxson Badura had a goal each, and Blake Untereiner and Seth Jespersen chipped in with a single assist each. Aidyn Derksen Arnel was the starting goalie for Taber and the netminder made 14 saves on 24 shots.

After a high-scoring affair in the first game of the season, the Oil Kings saw Brooks come to Taber on Saturday afternoon. While there was a touch less scoring than in the first game, the Oil Kings saw another game where they narrowly lost as they fell 5-4. Eldridge had two of the Oil King goals and an assist while Odland had a pair of assists. Jenner Workman and Nielsen had the other Taber goals and Ben Williamson, Cole Swanson, and Cooper Broderson had an assist in the game. Brodyn Sutka got the start between the pipes and the goalie made 36 saves on 41 shots.

The U13 Oil Kings return this weekend for another pair of games as they head to Foremost on Saturday and then Bow Island comes to town on Sunday for a 1 p.m. puck drop.

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