Morinville Kings drop first game of NCHL playoffs

by Stephen Dafoe and Morinville Online

The Morinville Kings, who ended the North Central Hockey League (NCHL) regular season in third place, are in a best-of-five series with the Devon Barons and have a home-ice advantage.

But Game one on Wednesday night was not the start to the series the Kings hoped for after dropping a 5-1 decision to the visiting Devon Barons. In that outing, the Kings were down 2-0 after one and down 5-1 by the game’s end.

Kings President Wayne Gaza said his club’s chances are good, but they’ll have to work every minute to achieve victory.

“They [Devon] work hard. They’ve got a great goalie in Jordan Cook. The last time we played them, we had 55 shots, and he only gave up three goals,” Gatza said. “So, we’re going to have to work hard and keep it simple, and just outwork them.”

Gatza said he felt the regular season was a solid one for the Kings. “Overall, it was probably a better year than in the past,” he said. “I think we have a better team than when we won it all a couple of years ago. We’ve got lots of talent. The talent just has to work. If the talent doesn’t work, we don’t win.”

Games two and three took place over the weekend. Results were not available by our press deadline. Game four, if needed, will be on the road on Feb. 11 and Game five in Morinville on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.