The Battlefords Midget AA Barons are the champions of the Centre Four League. (Twitter/Neil Gamble)

By Brady Lang

Barons tame wolfpack

Midget AA Barons crowned champions of Centre Four

Mar 25, 2019 | 5:04 PM

It didn’t come easy, but the Battlefords AA Midget Barons are now the champions of the Centre Four Midget Division.

The win last night capped off a hard-fought season by the crew, and after a roller-coaster regular season, the team found their groove at the right time and flew into the playoffs. According to their Coach Lee Ulmer, with this team it wasn’t just one line, one player, or one event. It was a culmination of hard work throughout the year that had them standing with the trophy, and eventually hanging the banner, that got them to this point.

“We have a group effort. Any given night, it’s somebody else that steps up,” he said. “It was a (big focus) of setting our culture at the beginning of the year.”

The team defeated the North East Wolfpack last night, 4-3 at the Civic Centre to clinch the title. After a setback in Tisdale on Friday, the team regrouped and were ready to challenge North East, who led the North Division of the league with a 25-5-1-2 record in the regular season.

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The Barons came in as underdogs when it came to the series, finishing third in the regular season with a 20-11-0-2 record. Ulmer said for them, they wanted to be a team that never stopped working, and wanted to surprise teams when it got to this point in the year. Their focus on team play and being able to capitalize when it mattered was crucial for the team success, Ulmer said.

“There’s countless guys, it’s a team effort,” he said. “It’s truly a team victory, and there’s no way we could have done it without the guys.”

Adversity was a key word for the club throughout not only the year, but this group’s past. In two years in Bantam AA, their group only recorded four wins. After that, Ulmer said he inherited a team that only mustered up seven wins the year prior. But this year’s edition of the Barons was different. They put it in the past, and worked toward a common goal.

Up next for the club is the provincial matchup with the Swift Current Abbey Resources Broncos. The Broncos have been unbeatable throughout the year, going 36-0 in the regular season, and going 9-0 in the playoffs. The team will be a big matchup, but Ulmer said he and the team are ready to rumble when they take the ice against the Broncos.

That series is a three-game bout, with everything starting Thursday at 7:15 p.m. in Swift Current.

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GAME SUMMARY

FIRST PERIOD

12:46 H. Brandt from Casavant and Carlson 1-0 NE

9:00 Z. Florence from Sacrey and Senger 1-1

SECOND PERIOD

7:13 A. Harris from Jack and Taggart 2-1 BATT

2:47 I. Casavant from Carlson (2) and McAvoy 2-2

THIRD PERIOD

19:35 C. Friedrich from Harris and Nachtegaele 3-2 BATT

16:09 A. Harris (2) from Florence 4-2 BATT

4:47 D. Hvidston from Casavant (2) and Morin 4-3 BATT

Goaltenders:

NE: P. Sturby, L, 36 SV, 4 GA

BATT: C. Taylor, W, 20 SV, 3 GA

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brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangBFN