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Stamps walloped by Wranglers’ offense

The Ponoka Stampeders matchup against the Blackfalds Wranglers proved to be too much for the home team
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Stampeders’ Nate Higgins scores against the Blackfalds Wranglers during their Wednesday

The Ponoka Stampeders matchup against the Blackfalds Wranglers proved to be too much for the home team Wednesday, Jan. 7 who lost 14-2.

Shots on goal from the first period shows just how unprepared the Stampeders actually were. Of the 14 shots on goal in the first period, nine made it past the goalies, a success rate of 65 per cent.

Ponoka scored one goal, capitalizing on a power play.

To shake things up a bit coach Mark Dobler put goalie Eli Falls in after Zane Steeves let in five goals. Falls saved one of the five shots against him and Steeves was eventually returned to the ice to complete the game.

Fans could see the team looked defeated. One Wranglers’ goal was made from close to the blue line finding a hole in the struggling defensive line.

Blackfalds is not an easy team to beat. They sit first in the standings with a record of 24-1-2. Ponoka on the other hand has a record of 2-21-4.

Despite the odds against them, the Stampeders did show improvement in the second period. Players jumped in front of their net if Steeves was drawn out and they were able to get the puck out of the area.

However, the Wranglers appeared able to read the Stampeders’ plays, gaining possession of the puck on most occasions. Once they got control of the puck their forward line looked for gaps in Ponoka’s defense with quick passes and shots on the net.

By the end of the game Blackfalds outshot Ponoka 38-23 with almost 37 per cent success rate for the Wranglers. They sunk five goals in the seven power plays they had while Ponoka scored one goal out of five power plays.

Ponoka had 22 minutes of penalties and three game misconduct penalties while Blackfalds had 16 minutes of penalties and two game misconduct penalties.

Game results

The Stampeders had two more big losses over the weekend.

Their first game was Friday, Jan. 9 at the Airdrie Thunder arena where they lost 9-2. Both points for Stampeders were scored in the third period by Tegan Colonna and Brendan Scott.

Shots on goal were 56-34 for Airdrie.

Their home game on Sunday against the Okotoks Bisons resulted in a 6-0 loss. Shots on goal were 41-32 for Okotoks.

Coach Mark Dobler, who was fired Sunday, said that goaltending suffered the greatest. “The last three games, coaching was not very good.”

He said in the game against Airdrie, Ponoka was down 5-0 in the first period and that kind of deficit in the first period is hard to bounce back from.