The Eckville Eagles are ready for the playoffs and have their tentative line-up ready to go. Eckville is the leading seed in the series with Daysland, Morinville and Bonnyville trailing behind.
“This year we outperformed what we did last year and we knew we would. We underperformed last year for sure,” said Reed Watts, owner of the team and second line defenseman for the playoffs.
Watts said many of the players are returning from last year so the focus has been on building with the synergy already created.
“We’ve just added the right pieces,” he said, also sharing that he played in Big Valley with many of the players currently on the team before he moved to Eckville last year.
While the lines are not set in stone, Watts is confident in the decisions made about added players and the team as a whole.
“The additions we did make…they’ve helped solidify the team to what it could be and should be.”
Watts feels the team is “more rounded this year from top to bottom.” He thinks the most noticeable difference is in the Eagle’s goal tending.
“Frankly I think our goal tending is the biggest improvement over last year,” Watts said, attributing much of the success to Travis Yonkman who moved to the Eckville Eagles from the Stoney Plain AAA Eagles last year.
Watts says he appreciates that he’s able to play a role in keeping hockey alive for his friends and himself.
“If I didn’t have the team in Eckville, I probably wouldn’t be playing anymore.”
Since he was five, Watts has had a year off hockey. Originally from Eckville, he grew up playing in town and was an Eagle all the way through minor hockey; Dynamites through Midgets. He played with Blackfalds as a junior and from there he went to play with with Rocky Mountain Rams. Next he played with the Sylvan Lake Admirals, then Big Valley and now he’s back in Eckville again.
Watts says the whole team is “revved up to play.”
“It doesn’t really matter who we play, we think we have the team to do it this year for sure. We’re just excited that’s all.”
Watts appreciates the fans that come out to support the games in Eckville, especially the kids who come up to the players after the games to give them all high fives regardless of which team is filing off the ice.
“With Eckville we get such good fans,” he said, adding that he remembers coming to games as a child, breathing on the glass like he sees kids doing now, and thinking he was at a NHL game.
The finalized schedule is:
Game 1 in Eckville, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Game 2 in Bonnyville, Feb. 11 at 6:00 p.m
Game 3 in Eckville, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Game 4 in Bonnyville, Feb. 24 at 3:45 p.m.
Game 5 in Eckville, Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m.
myra.nicks@eckvilleecho.com
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