March madness is not confined to college basketball.
The Rocky Mountain Raiders are off to the final-four of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League for a second-straight season after sweeping through the first two playoff rounds.
“It’s pretty cool in back-to-back years. It’s kind of a revival story. Getting to the final-four of the league is a pretty special accomplishment,” said Raiders head coach Mickey Kluner. “But, with the season we had this is not the goal. This is just a stepping stone.”
Stepping in the way of the Raiders’ first trip to a league final is the Calgary Royals.
The Royals, the third seed in the Challenger South Division, have been bracket busters in the post-season in knocking off the Calgary Flames and first-place Bisons in upset fashion through the first two rounds.
“To beat the Flames and Bisons is two major accomplishments,” Kluner said. “They’re playing physical hockey, determined hockey and considering I coached there for seven years it’s good to see.
“But hopefully it stops there.”
Rocky Mountain took the season series 2-1 over Calgary, picking up 5-3 and 7-2 wins before losing the regular season finale by a 4-3 count in early February.
The Raiders own a considerable edge in both goals for and against, where they rank first and fourth in the province, respectively.
Rocky Mountain has yet to lose in the post-season with consecutive two-game sweeps over the Red Deer Rebels and Lethbridge Hurricanes and have allowed a mere three goals in four games. Netminders Hunter Young from Okotoks and Riley Kell each have two wins.
They advanced to the South final by virtue of a 3-0 shutout on the road over Lethbridge on Friday. Rocky Mountain scored in each period with Joel Krahenbil, Kale Clouston and freshman sensation Peyton Krebs of Okotoks finding the back of the net. Kell made 17 saves for the shutout.
“Lethbridge is a very tight playing team, very structured and we were expecting not a physical battle, but a mental one where it was very systematic,” Kluner said. “Their powerplay is their strong point and in two games they scored one powerplay goal on 12 chances. That was huge for us in shutting that down.”
The series opener saw the Raiders jump out to a first-period lead and cruise to a comfortable 4-1 triumph Feb. 19 on home-ice, Scott Seaman Sports Rink in Davisburg.
Millarville’s own Zach Huber opened the scoring on the powerplay with Lethbridge’s Byron Bowen answering with a goal on the man-advantage of his own. Hard-hitting Nantonite Tucker Zdunich restored the one-goal advantage with an unassisted tally late in the frame.
Rocky Mountain added even-strength markers through Clouston and Krebs to round out the scoring. Hunter Young made 20 saves for his second win of the post-season.
The best-of-five South finals are set to open this weekend at the Scott Seaman Sports Rink. Game 1 is a 1:45 p.m. start on Feb. 28. The Royals host Game 2 on March 1, 5:15 p.m. at the Stu Peppard Arena in Calgary.
For the latest schedule information go to ambhl.ab.ca
