The Bantam AA Wheatland Warriors had a very successful weekend down in Lethbridge as they won all their games in the playoff tournament and came out on the other side the South Central Alberta Hockey League South Division Champions.

Brett Thurston, Head Coach of the Bantam AA Wheatland Warriors, talked about what winning the South Division Championship meant to the team, "It was a goal we set out so we're proud we accomplished it. It was a lot of hard work, a little bit of ups and downs throughout the season, so I think the guys are just mostly proud of what they accomplished and us, as coaches, we are definitely proud of the boys." Coach Thurston thought his team played very well and said all the players stepped up and played really offensively and defensively to get them the wins they needed. It was a good year overall for the Warriors as they finished on the top in their division and Thurston says it's because the team didn't have too many losses in a row.

The team is now getting ready to take on the North Division Champions, the West Central Tigers in a best of 3 series. The first game will be held in West Central territory on Friday with game two held in Strathmore on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. If game three is required, it's back to West Central territory to decide who will walk away as the league champion. The league champion would then go on to provincial, but this year the West Central Tigers will be hosting the Bantam AA 2020 Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships which means the Wheatland Warriors will be headed to playoffs no matter the outcome. 

Even though the team is heading to provincials by default, Thurston said, "I think we'd like to do it the right way by beating them in the league, but we're going to end up there anyway so it's a good experience for the guys. It's a pretty big honor to get to that point and play some really good teams so it'll be tough for the guys, but we're up for the challenge and I think everyone is pretty excited about it." Coach Thurston feels confident in his team's efforts going into the league finals and even provincials after the success they had in the playoffs.