Cowboys bury Miners

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

Peigan Cowboys vs Blackfoot Miners
C. Davis photo

The Ranchland Hockey League's top ranked team, Siksika's Blackfoot Miners, met the lowest ranked team, the Peigan Cowboys, at Pincher Creek's MCC arena on the evening of Saturday, December 3.  The end result of what should have been an easy win for the Siksika team was surprising.

Cowboys #25 Dan Bikman lines it up before knocking it in
C. Davis photo

First period
The game got off to a quick start, with both teams going hard at it right out of the chute.
With 13:11 on the clock, Cowboys' right-winger #7 Marcus Healey popped one in, giving the Cowboys an early lead.  Siksika centre #11 Asford Mcmaster evened it up at 12:47 with a classic breakaway goal.  At 10:16 Peigan centre #25 Dan Bikman scored one to put the Cowboys back in the lead.  The game was evened up again at 8:38 when Miners' centre #16 Deelan Doore knocked one home.  After a fast-paced period of back and forth hockey, the game stood tied at 2-2.

Cowboys #19 Weston Omeasod
C. Davis photo

Second period
In the second period, the Miners worked the Cowboys crease hard but to no avail. Cowboys' centre #19 Weston Omeasod scored twice, ending the period up 4-2.

Third period
Dan Bikman kicked off the scoring in the third for the Cowboys, his second goal of the game. An increasingly desperate Siksika team tried to rally, and Miners's left-winger Robin Big Snake snuck one by with 1:34 left on the clock, raising some little hope for the team.  This hope was quickly dashed in the declining seconds of the period.  Siksika pulled their goalie, to disastrous results.  Weston Omeasod took advantage of the situation, sinking an easy one, his third goal of the game, with 44 seconds left on the clock.  To add insult to injury, Cowboys' defenceman Leighton Bishop slipped another one into the open net with one second left on the clock.

Cowboys #9 Shay Prairie Chicken plowing through the opposition
C. Davis photo

Home town crowd erupts, Cowboys walk away with their second victory of the season, final score 7-3, and the underdog last ranked team more than doubles the score over the RHL's first ranked team, giving the Miners their first loss of the year.

Cowboys' goalie Jeff Kaupp deserves accolades for his performance in the game.  He was hard-pressed by the Miners throughout, and came through in a big way for the Cowboys. Kaupp is currently the second ranked goalie in the RHL.

The whole team, in fact both teams, deserve to be recognized for playing a fast-paced and entertaining game, with a minimum of fisticuffs.  This one was won on performance.

The Cowboys' media-shy Head Coach Tyrone Potts was pleased with his team's performance.  "We picked up some more guys," he told me, after the game.  "We're missing players still, a couple of suspensions and that, but I think we played well.  Siksika had a short bench, they were missing five of their top players.  It was a good game for us to come back together, and I think  we had some good goaltending from Jeff Kaupp, he's a local, he's from Pincher, he played a good game.  I think Dan Bikman and Weston Omeasod were very strong. It was a good win, we'll just try and build on that."

Teddy Bear toss coming to Pincher Creek

The Cowboys will be in Nanton next weekend, on Friday, December 9 to take another shot at roping in the Palominos.

On Saturday, December 17 they will be back in Pincher Creek to take on Kainai, and to hold their annual Teddy Bear toss.

Author's note: once again my notes, both visual and written, don't quite coincide with the official stats.  I again went with the stats, but according to my notes and video the Cowboys scored 3 empty net goals, and Siksika scored once more than reported in regular play.  It is likely that a later ruling disqualified those extra goals.