For the Barrhead Steelers, the game against the Vegreville Wranglers Dec. 8 was one that started with promise and good intentions.
Barely three minutes into the first period, Steelers forward Jona Cisse scored off a rebound provided by teammates Owen Weeks and Brendan Bujold, giving Barrhead the lead.
However, the Wranglers answered back with two of their own, once at the five-minute mark, and again two minutes later. With the score at 1-2 for Barrhead, the Steelers rallied but were unable to capitulate on a power-play and the deficit remained.
In the second period, the Wranglers snapped off another goal against Steelers goaltender Colton Griffiths, during a swarm on Barrhead’s side of the rink. While the deficit was 3-1, Steelers lineman Luke Szybunka managed to score on an assist from Bujold and Frank Scholten, narrowing the gap with less than four minutes in the period.
But it was short-lived. Vegreville answered back two minutes later, bringing the score to 2-4. Ten minutes later, Barrhead’s Justin Haltiner sent one more past Wrangler goalie Cale Stefan but could not rally enough to tie it up.
Prior to the face-off, the Steelers took a minute to pose for a photo with the toys they had collected for the FCSS program, Santa’s Toy Box and FCSS director Shelley Dewsnap said she appreciated their hard work.
“It’s nice to see these young men doing so much for their community — things like this, organizing a toy drive and on top of that, taking time out of their day to help deliver turkeys to people in need,” Dewsnap said, noting that is what the Christmas season is all about.
