After dropping their first three games of the season, the Delisle Chiefs do seem to be headed in the right direction after picking up their first win at home and then carrying that momentum into a road trip down south.

They split the pair of away games, though Delisle Chiefs Head Coach and GM Eric Ditto said it was a good stretch regardless for the team as they won't let one bad period get to them.

"We had an opportunity to get back to .500, but unfortunately came up short in the second game," said Ditto, "Looking back, the second game was very frustrating in ways. But when you really break it down, we played 5 pretty decent periods on the road, and then had one terrible period and it cost us."

Ditto wasn't kidding, as looking at the box score for the second period of Saturday's game against Pilot Butte things got a bit out of control for the Chiefs. Some poor play that led to a pair of powerplay goals, and three markers overall in under 5 minutes of play to end the period had the coach a little fired up at his team during the intermission.

"Took some unnecessary penalties, and we just decided we weren't going to move our feet. Our forwards got lazy. Our defense struggled to move pucks. Everything added up to not a very pleasant intermission after that second period. We did play better in the third period; it was just too little too late," shared Ditto.

After some reflection, the positives from the weekend started to shine through as Ditto and the team move away from their cold early season start.

"Gave it some thought afterwards, and it wasn't all completely terrible just because we lost one game. That's a tough road trip no matter what."

Continuing on with Ditto, he mentioned a few of the top players that have helped them turn things around. Newcomer Nathan Flodell is currently out of the lineup indefinitely after a hot start to his season, as a few more new additions during the offseason have also paid off for the team lately.

"One guy who has been nothing but impressive is Sam Chittenden who we got in a trade with Fort Qu'Appelle over the summer. He's been on fire every game it seems, been a sparkplug in all situations," said Ditto about one of his early go-to players in 2022.

Part of the reason for the team's slow start has to be their lineup operating on spare parts at times. Already so far this season they have been down a few members on the back end, forcing Ditto to get creative.

"Our defense has been banged up right from exhibition," he said, "We're using some forwards on defense. Josh Herzog has been playing some defense which has been helping us out, but unfortunately we are kind of missing him on the front end."

Ditto feels that they can erase the early season negativity should some of the younger players continue elevating their game. The Chiefs lineup won't be a revolving door all season, but they have had to make do so far. One interesting thing that did happen because of the uncertainty in the lineup, was that West Central's Ty Bahm played only one game for the Chiefs as he collected two points, and more can be expected on the young player later on.

Chiefs Caley LehouillierAnother one of the Chiefs forwards in #24 Caley Lehouillier was all smiles after the team's first road win of the season over Fort Knox (Photo via Delisle Chiefs)

Looking back at the Chiefs weekend, they also had to deal with some question marks when it came to their goaltender spot. Ditto mentioned it is a little different this year in the goalie room as they have a pair of capable young men tending the crease.

"Now we have two 19-year old's, which is a little different for us. We usually run with one older and one younger, but (Dylan) Marshall was out in BC and he had a change of heart and wanted to come back, so we made the move to get him," said Ditto explaining the situation. He is committed to giving them each an ample opportunity, "Sat them both down before we got underway, and told them the #1 job is up for grabs. Told them I have total confidence in both of them."

The plan was to split their starts to begin the year, but after Marshall ended up missing some games being sick, Martens took the opportunity and ran with it. So much so that Ditto gave his hot goaltender a start in each game on the road even though Marshall travelled with the team.

"Marty got his opportunity and played phenomenal for a few games in a row. We went down south on the road with a healthy Marshall, and still had to roll with Martens in net for the first game. He played great again, so we just ran with him again the following game."

As far as Ditto is aware his players are alright with the situation so far, and Marshall is aware that he is in line for a similar opportunity should his play prove it. It's never a bad thing to have two hot goalies.

"I think the (starts) will even themselves out, but it was basically just a matter of rolling with the hot guy at the time. They are going to continue to fight it out, but in my opinion, we have a solid 1A and 1B, so I don't think there is any wrong choice for who starts in net."

Martens five starts to Marshall's one is nothing but an early season storyline, but at the end of the day the Chiefs are just happy to have a pair of players that will give them a chance in any game.

Delisle currently has a 2-4-0 record heading into tonight's road game against the Saskatoon Westleys.

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