By Nathan Kanter

Midget A Barons teams combine talent for provincials

Feb 22, 2017 | 6:02 AM

With too many players for just one midget A Battleford Barons team this season, players from both squads have joined forces in the hopes of making a long run at the provincials.

So far, so good, as the provincial team defeated Unity in the second round of the ‘A’ midget provincial bracket after outscoring them 18-4 in two games. The team received a first round bye.

“Unity was a strong team but we’ve got a lot of skill,” midget A STEP and provincial assistant coach Owen Gentes said. “That provincial team, we’ve got three lines and all three of them would be a top line on any team, I believe.

“The depth in the lineup is our big advantage this year.”

One of the midget A Barons teams plays in the STEP league and has blown away their competition all season long. They lost just once in 17 games while scoring over 10 goals per game.

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In round one of the league playoffs, they defeated Meadow Lake 21-2 and 15-1.

Again, depth has been the key.

“We’ve got some kids – some of those second and third year kids – whose speed and talent is phenomenal,” Gentes said. “Technically, they probably should be playing AA hockey but they chose to play house this year and it’s really worked out well for us.”

The other midget A Barons team plays in the Hi-Way14 league, which is a tougher league, have gone just 4-16 this year.

But provincials are the real deal.

Gentes, who credits head coach Kelly Page with a lot of the success for both the provincial team and the STEP team, said they took about five players from the Hi-Way 14 league team to add to the STEP league team to make the dangerous provincial squad.

“This is the first year there’s been two midget house teams,” Gentes explained. “Nobody can remember when the last time was that we had two midget teams… so we’ve got a really powerful provincial team this year.”

Gentes is really confident in the provincial team’s ability for a deep run, as he doesn’t believe Warman or Kerrobert – the teams the Barons would play in the next round – pose too much of a threat.

But he also acknowledged that the STEP league playoffs will get harder immediately.

“[Round two] is going to be night and day,” he said. “Meadow Lake only had eight skaters both games.”

The midget A STEP team will play either Edam, the fourth seed, or Lashburn, the sixth seed in the second round.

Both upcoming provincial games and league playoff games will be posted on the Battlefords Minor Hockey Association website and Gentes encouraged fans to come out and support the teams when the dates are released.

Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11