By Nathan Kanter

Midget A Barons squeeze out first win in finals

Mar 14, 2017 | 10:00 AM

For a team that had lost only one game all season long, a 7-5 score was not what they were used to.

But with that 7-5 win over St. Walburg on Monday night, the midget A Barons STEP league team is now one victory away from a league championship, as they lead the best 2-of-3 series 1-0.

“We’re not used to giving up that many goals,” Barons head coach Kelly Page said after the win. “I think the difference was our power play. We had three goals on the power play and we work it well. We go with four forwards out there and we move the puck so well and get lots of traffic [in front of the net].”

Rett Taggart and captain Cody Kalyn led the way for the Barons, each with a five-point night, while Presley Peterson and Spencer Sack each notched three points.

Taggart said he felt the Barons had a slow start on Monday, as it was 2-2 after the first.

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“Then everyone wanted it a bit more than they did in the third, so that ended up being the thing that did it for us,” Taggart said. “[To win game one] is just huge. I don’t even know how to say it. A lot bigger than you’d think it would be. It’s just huge.”

Coach Page didn’t like his team’s start either.

“I think our nerves got to us and our defenceman were pinching and we gave up [at certain points.] We started up two goals and we gave them back,” Page said. “They don’t have a line that’s going to come out and score every night but they work very hard.”

Page said three or four players are used to playing midget AA but chose to come down one level this year.

The depth up front proved to be difference on Monday, and all season long.

“We have a good group of kids,” Page said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that want to win and want to be here and we work hard. It’s just a team effort.”

“The depth is amazing because we can have three solid lines going all the time,” Taggart added. “We’re not really selfish. We passed the puck around… and we never let off.”

The midget A Barons also had a team enter into provincials, a team that combined talent from this STEP league midget team and the other midget A Barons team that is playing in the Highway 14 league.

At provincials, the Barons had a bye in round one, rolled over Unity in round two, but then were surprised by Kerrobert in round three.

Kerrobert defeated the Barons in both games, winning 7-5 and 5-3 to advance on a 12-8 overall goal advantage.

“[They were] a tough team and I think we underestimated them,” Page, who also coached the provincial team, said. “We thought we could easily walk over them and it didn’t happen. They played a 2-1-2 and they dumped the puck in hard and we just didn’t come out to play, both games.”

Kerrobert is now set to play Yorkton in the midget A provincial finals.

For the Barons STEP league team, they know they’re close to a league championship, but they also know they can’t get complacent.

“Thursday we go to St. Walburg and they’re a tough team,” Page said. “That first win is very important but you’ve got to win two and we’ll have to win on the road. We don’t want to come back for game three, that’s for sure.”

Puck drop on Thursday in St. Walburg is 6:30 p.m.

Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

@NathanKanter11