by Steve Ibbotson

 

     With only one game on the schedule for the weekend, the Thrashers wanted to play well and they got off to a great start in the opening period. Aaron Neumeier scored six minutes into the game and his goal was followed 19 seconds later by Tyrel Severtson's 13th goal of the season. However, Kristian Petit scored midway through the period to reply for the Thunder and then just a minute later Daniel Hounjet evened the score for Airdrie.

     Five minutes into the second stanza, Joel Harrison regained the lead for the Thrashers. The wide open play continued and Brady Hoover stood tall in the Three Hills goal, stopping every attack by the Thunder. Connor Ablett's tenth goal of the season with just three minutes remaining in the second period gave the Thrashers a 4-2 lead heading into the third period. Cam Braun's 13th tally of the campaign six minutes into the final frame gave the Thrashers some extra insurance, and Hoover slammed the door shot making a total of 31 saves to get the victory.

by Steve Ibbotson

     After three impressive victories to start the new year, the Banff Academy Bears upset the Three Hills Thrashers Saturday night..

     After defeating Stettler 6-0 on January 6, the Thrashers second win of 2012 came in Blackfalds against the Wranglers on Tuesday night (January 10). John Midtdal's goal three minutes into action on the powerplay gave Three Hills an early 1-0 lead. Midway through the period, Landon Kletke's eleventh goal of the season was followed up 14 seconds later by Cam Braun's eleventh goal of the year give the Thrashers a quick 3-0 lead and sent Wranglers goalie Lane Swier to an early shower.

     Four minutes into the second period, Blackfalds got on the scoreboard. Despite carrying the play in the middle frame, the Wranglers could not get any closer thanks to solid goaltending by Devon Dell. With just under four minutes remaining in the period, another powerplay goal by the Thrashers, this time off the stick of Cam Braun, restore the three goal advantage.

     Just over four minutes into the final frame, Joel Harrison scored to make the score 5-1 Three Hills. Though Blackfalds scored a pair of goals in the final three minutes to make the score a respectable 5-3, Three Hills skated off with a hard earned road victory.

     After a huge win in Blackfalds, the Thashers hosted MountainView on home ice on Friday night. Although Three Hills outshot the Colts 14-12 in the opening stanza, only Evan Thompson's 24th goal of the year managed to beat Devon Dell in the Thrashers net for the only goal of the first period. The tables turned in the second stanza as Landon Kletke's powerplay goal 7:40 into the period was followed by a short-handed tally by Lucas Ford just before the twelve minute mark. With less than four minutes left in the period, Jason Edwards evened the score for the Colts setting the stage for an exciting third period.

     As they had in the second period, the Thrashers carried the offensive play in the final frame and outshot MountainView 16-5. Calvin Main's tenth goal of the year seven and a half minutes into the third period proved to be the game winner. John Midtdal scored two minutes later to extend the lead to 4-2 and the Aaron Neumeier celebrated his birthday by scoring the final goal for the Thrashers with just over six minutes remaining. Devon Dell again earned the win in goal.

    After impressive victories against North division rivals, the Thrashers seemed poised to route the struggling Banff Hockey Academy Bears on home ice Saturday night. Less than five minutes in, Kevin Belt's powerplay goal put the home side ahead 1-0. However, the fierce Bears evened the score before the period ended as Colton Wildman beat Brady Hoover in the Three Hills goal. Despite outshooting the Bears 13-4 in the second stanza, the middle frame was scoreless and the teams headed to the final frame still deadlocked. Nine minutes into the third period, Zack Wildman's powerplay goal gave the Bears a 2-1 lead. Again, the Thrashers continued the offensive pressure, peppering 17 shots at Banff's netminder Dan Plater, but he stopped every one of them to give his team the victory.

   The Thrashers will try to start another winning streak as they play host to the Airdrie Thunder at Saturday night at 8:00 pm at Centennial Place Arena. Then its back out on the road to Stettler on Tuesday, January 24th for a mid-week matchup against the Lightning.

by Steven Ibbotson

 

     The Three Hills Thrashers opened 2012 with a victory on Friday night, defeating the Stettler Lightning 6-0 in front of their hometown crowd.

      After a pile of first period powerplays for both teams, Connor Ablett finally capitalized for the Thrashers, putting them ahead 1-0 after twenty minutes.Midway through the second period Joel Harrison scored his fifth goal of the season. That goal was followed just 25 seconds later by Micah Abbott's seventh goal to give the Thrashers a 3-0 lead. The backbreaker came with just five seconds left in the second period when Abbott scored his second of the game. Cameron Braun's tenth of the season just over two minutes into the final frame made it 5-0 and Luke Schuenert rounded out the scoring just a minute later. Devon Dell was solid in the Thrashers goal making 28 saves.

 

 

 

Some of the highlights of our live Auction on Saturday November 19th include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hope to see you there. Tickets are going fast.

The Three Hills Thrashers annual pilgrimage south was successful this year as they came away with four points from two games in Medicine Hat and Coaldale over the weekend. The victories keep the Thrashers on top of the Central division of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League.

     Friday night in Medicine Hat, the two squad battled fairly evenly for the first period. However, late in the period, the Cubs managed to capitalize and score two goals late, one on a powerplay to take a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes. Undeterred, the Thrashers came out in the second period and scored four goals to turn the tables on the Cubs. Calvin Main started the offensive onslaught with a goal just under four minutes into the second period. Main's goal was followed by Jay Kirkham's fourth of the season on a powerplay at the midway point of the period. Another powerplay goal by Luke Schuenert five minutes later put the Thrashers in the lead for the first time, and Michael Stoetzel rounded out the scoring with his fourth goal of the season a couple minutes later. Three Hills kept their foot on the gas pedal in the final frame as Landon Kletke scored his sixth goal of the year just two minutes into the period, another marker on the powerplay. Cam Braun's unassisted tally just over two minutes later ended up being the final goal of the night as Three Hills skated away with an impressive 6-2 victory in Medicine Hat. Devon Dell made 26 saves for the win.

     Saturday night, Three Hills got another solid start, carrying the play in the opening period and being rewarded with a pair of goals. Luke Schuenert third goal of the season seven minutes into the game was followed by Kevin Belt's third goal of the year six minutes later and the Thrashers built a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes. Coaldale got on the board early in the second stanza with a powerplay goal, but Thrashers defenceman Dan Stollery temporarily restored th two goal lead with just over two minutes remaining, also a powerplay marker. However, 31 seconds later, the Copperheads struck again to send the teams into the third period separated by only a goal. Though Coaldale narrowly outshot the Thrashers in the final stanza, they could not get the puck past Brady Hoover who was solid in the Three Hills goal, and the Thrashers celebrated a 3-2 victory, capping off a great weekend of hockey.

     The Thrashers travel to Airdrie to battle the Thunder on Friday night before returning home to face the Vipers on Saturday evening at Centennial Place Arena. Game time is 8:00 pm.

 

by Steve Ibbotson

 

     The Three Hills Thrashers split a pair of games over the weekend and now sit atop the north division of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League with a record of 6 wins and 2 losses.

     After a pair of shutout victories over Thanksgiving weekend, the Thrashers travelled to Didsbury on Wednesday October 12 to face the MountainView Colts. Justin Slade opened the scoring for the Colts midway through the opening period, but Tyrel Severtson's third goal of the year tied the score for the Thrashes after twenty minutes. The Colts owned the second period, outscoring Three Hills 2-0 and outshooting them 17-6. However, Coach Ian Hall's intermission talk must have been highly motivating as the Thrashers responded with three goals in the final frame. Landon Kletke's second goal of the season early in the period was followed by a powerplay goal from Tristan Cunningham almost nine minutes into action to tie the score. Then, with less than six minutes remaining, with the Thrashers enjoying a powerplay, Kletke's second of the night proved to be the game winner in a 4-3 victory. Devon Dell was excellent between the pipes for Three Hills stopping 48 shots for the win.

    With a three-game winning streak on the line, the Thrashers came out flat against the Strathmore Wheatland Kings on Friday night in front of the home crowd. An early powerplay marker was followed by two more even strength tallies and then the Kings put a fourth goal past Brady Hoover, sending the young Thrashers netminder to the showers early. However, his partner Devon Dell couldn't stop the onslaught and five minutes into the second period, Strathmore had added two more goals to take an imposing 6-0 lead. Kevin Belt's goal with just over three minutes remaining in the second period finally put the Thrashers on the scoreboard.

     Midway through the final frame, four goals in four minutes by Three Hills suddenly made an embarassing loss in front of the home crowd into an exciting finish. Tristan Cunningham's second goal of the season was followed by Brodie Lutz's third a minute later, and then Calvin Main's second another minute later. Just another minute later, Connor Ablett's team leading fifth goal made the score 6-5 with just over six minutes remaining. However, it was too little too late as the Thrashers could not manage to get one more puck past Richie Hubbell.

     The Thrashers were ready to play Saturday night as they took the ice in Red Deer against the perenially strong, Vipers. Jesse Schuenert's first goal of the season on the powerplay with under six minutes remaining gave Three Hills the lead. Then, with 42 seconds remaining, Calvin Main's third goal of the year made the score 2-0. The Vipers' David Foord scored his first goal of the night on a powerplay early in the second period, but Michael Stoetzel replied for the Thrashers midway through the middle stanza to restore the two goal advantage. Foord's second goal of the night midway through the third period cut the deficit to one goal, but Devon Dell slammed the door shut the rest of the way as Red Deer pressed to tie the game and the Thrashers escaped with a 3-2 victory.

    The Thrashers have one of their rare three game weekends coming up. They play in Stettler on Friday night (October 21) before travelling to Strathmore on Saturday evening. Then, they are back at Centennial Place Arena on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm to battle the Medicine Hat Cubs.

by Steve Ibbotson

The Three Hills Thrashers had a successful road weekend, earning their fair share of Thanksgiving turkey and all the trimmings after two victories in High River and Banff on Friday and Saturday night by identical 4-0 scores.
     On Friday night Landon Kletke's first goal as a Thrashers midway through the opening frame put Three Hills ahead 1-0. After Michael Stoetzel got a major penalty for boarding and automatic game misconduct early in the period, the Thrashers not only killed off the penalty, but Tyrel Severtson scored short-handed to double the Thrashers lead. The rest of the period saw more rough stuff happening, though the Thrashers maintained their two goal lead. Connor Ablett's goal less than a minute into the third period killed any efforts for a High River comeback and Micah Abbott added a goal with just under two minutes remaining to give Three Hills a 4-0 victory. Devon Dell was superb in earning the shutout for Three Hills, stopping all 30 High River attempts. Dell recently returned to the Thrashers after being the final goaltender cut at the Dauphin Kings camp in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
   Saturday night, the squad once again headed out on the road, this time to Banff to faceoff against the Banff Academy Bears. Three Hills didn't seem to have "road legs" after the long bus ride as they came out flying in the opening period. Peppering 19 shots at the Bears net, only Zach Bauer was able to beat Bears' goaltender Dan Plater. The Bears got their offense together in the second period and the teams exchanged scoring chances, but the period was scoreless.
    The "TSN turning point" was clearly a match penalty to the Bears' just over a minute into the final frame. Kevin Belt's powerplay goal gave Three Hills an insurance marker. Two minutes later, Connor Ablett's first goal of the night, still on the same powerplay, made it 3-0. Ablett added another tally, his fourth goal of the campaign, on another powerplay to give Three Hills a 4-0 win. Rookie goaltender Brady Hoover stopped all 16 Banff shots to earn his first Heritage Junior B League shutout.
     Head coach Ian Hall was pleased with the team's work this weekend and the positive signs the team showed, and notes "I was equally impressed with both goalies." Also of note, former Thrasher (09-10) goaltender Simon Thieleman earned a shutout for Stetter on Saturday night, also against High River.
     The Thrashers played Wednesday night in Didsbury against the MountainView Colts. They will host the Strathmore Wheatland Kings on Friday night at 8:00 pm at Centennial Place Arena before travelling to Red Deer to tangle with the Vipers on Saturday night.

by Steve Ibbotson

 

     The Three Hills Thrashers got back in the win column Sunday afternoon with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting High River Flyers.

     Calvin Main opened the scoring eight minutes into the game, though the Flyers tied the score two minutes later. Matt Wildeman's second goal of the season with just over a minute remaining in the period was a good reward for the Thrashers who carried the play in the opening twenty minutes, outshooting High River 16-5.

     Brodie Lutz extended the Thrashers lead to 3-1 less than three minutes into the second stanza and the Thrashers continued to pepper the Flyers net with shots. Midway through the period, Zane Briggs powerplay goal put High River within a goal and a second powerplay goal by High River midway through the third period tied the score. The score remained tied through regulation time, setting the stage for Tyrel Severtson's overtime winner three minutes into the extra session to send the hometown fans happy with a 4-3 victory. Cody Boeckman earned the win in his first start of the season for Three Hills.

    The Thrashers face-off against the Flyers again this Friday night, in High River, before going to Banff on Saturday to face the Bears. A mid-week game the next Wednesday in Didsbury against the MountainView Colts is scheduled before the Thrashers next home game on Friday October 14.

The home opener for the Thrashers didn't go exactly as expected. Despite a two goal effort by Joel Harrison the locals were soundly defeated by Cochrane 9 - 4. The game was close at the end of two with the Thrashers only trailing by 1 at 4 to 3, but the Generals picked up the pace and the Thrashers could not match the skill level of Cochrane.

The Thrashers traveled to Airdrie to kick the season off on the road. After a poor showing in the pre-season with a 1 - 6 record, the coaching staff wasn't sure what to expect. The team had shown great promise in training camp and practice, but couldn't translate it into any success in the preseason. The Thrashers lived up to their early season potential and jumped out to a 3 - 0 lead after 1 period and skated away with a 5 - 4 victory. The team didn't play well in the second to allow the Thunder back into the game, but Three Hills showed the character needed to win at this level and held on in the third for the victory.