Eagles prepare for Centennial Cup

Andrew Milne ducks out from behind his desk for a chat and to take in proceedings on the ice. It’s time to talk Centennial Cup preparations, but it doesn’t last long as he is interrupted by another phone call and so it’s back to his cramped office, shared with fellow coaches Bryan Arneson, busily studying reports and game film at his cubicle, and Aryton Chapman, doing the same thing a few feet away.

On the ice, a rising wave of Canmore Eagles talent is on full display — twenty‑four boys and girls ages six to nine — soon to be joined by Chapman, several Eagles and local WHL’er Will McLaughlin. It’s a busy time for the coaching staff with the annual 3-on-3 spring sessions for minor hockey players underway and a quickly approaching spring camp — running Friday through Sunday — where 120 players 15 through 19 years old will be trying to impress the coaches and scouts in their attempt to be a future part of this Alberta Junior Hockey League championship team.

That championship tag puts Milne under immense pressure as he tries to juggle all that normally takes place this time of year with preparing for the Centennial Cup next week in Summerside, P.E.I. It’s a most welcome burden as the Canmore Eagles prepare for a first appearance at Canada’s junior A hockey championship tournament.

“We know we are going to have to play our best every single game,” says Milne between phone calls as he prepares for some intense practices this week. “We can’t ease into it. We can’t take time off. We can’t make mistakes. We know that.”

The Eagles franchise began in the 1995-96 season. There would be some very good teams, some exceptional players, but it would take 31 hockey seasons to finally land an AJHL title.

Milne has been the GM and head coach for the past 18 years and has fostered plenty of contacts throughout the hockey world that he can draw on when it comes to developing a game plan for his team. It’s not all about what will happen on the ice but also what goes on in getting a team to and from Summerside as well as everything else around the games.

“Logistics for a 15-day trip and a national championship are difficult to plan out, but we are in the process of working with some past teams that have gone there, and I have had a good chat with Brad Moran, who was the Calgary Canucks coach the past couple of years, and some advice he has given,” says Milne. “It’s about how to make the best, most successful plan.

“We are fortunate that I have been in short term competitions with Hockey Canada and Bryan (Arneson) has been there before and, obviously, (Hudson) Landmark, (Hudson) Sedo and (Will) Lutic have all been there recently, so it’s nice to have a little bit of background playing tournament hockey versus series hockey.”

Arneson was the video coach for the gold medal Canada West team at the World Junior A Challenge in 2023. Sedo was a goaltender on the Canada West bronze team in 2024. Lutic and Landmark were members of the Canada West team that won the silver at the 2025 tournament played this past December.

John Szabo, who replaced Casey Black as captain after his season-ending shoulder injury, participated in the 2022 Memorial Cup in Saint John, N.B., as a rookie with the WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings.

“We kind of have to play every game like it’s ‘Do or Die’,” says Szabo when it comes to meeting expectations on the ice. “I think we did that in the playoffs. We knew each game was going to be critical, especially in that final. … It means so much more now with the tournament style, elimination format.”

The Canmore Eagles Junior A Hockey Club is looking for community support to make this an unforgettable trip for the players and the franchise. To that end, the team has set up a Go Fund Me page.

“We want this to be the best possible experience and opportunity for our players to succeed, and we know there will be additional costs beyond what we anticipate,” notes Canmore Eagles president Darryl Lockwood on the fundraising page.

The Canadian Junior A Hockey League covers air fare and hotel rooms for 30 members of the organization, but each team is responsible for transportation, associated air travel costs for over-size bags — read every equipment bag — meals and activities.

“Your support will help our Canmore Eagles have an experience they will never forget and hopefully bring home the national title, the Centennial Cup,” notes the Go Fund Me page.

The goal is $35,000 with more than $16,000 contributed the first 24 hours.

The team is taking 26 players and four members of the coaching staff when it heads to the Maritimes on Tuesday, May 5. This is a collection of hockey talent born from 2005 through 2008 that strongly represents the best of Alberta and a little beyond.

The coaching staff, I’ve already introduced, along with physical therapist Dave Rowe.

As for the players, Easton Milne is the son of the general manger/head coach and proudly represents Canmore having grown up around this team. Notably named to the AJHL’s all-rookie South Division team and averaged a point per game in the playoffs: seven goals and eight assists for 15 points.

Defenceman and Banff native Haruki Morikawa is in his third and final season. Banff is the Eagles second home where they still play two regular-season games each season before enthusiastic crowds in a jam-packed Fenlands Arena.

Alex Scheiwiller is one of 10 players that calls Calgary home, along with the injured Black, Berkley Kufflick, Quinn Keeler, Reid Larson, Aidan Tkachuk, Ryder Dembo, Bryson Insinger and Keegan De Sa. Also joining the team on its trip East will be 17-year-old Nixon Mah, who will serve as the No. 3 goaltender or EBUG (emergency backup goaltender) after playing this past season with the Calgary Flames U18 AAA team.

Lutic, Cohen Daoust and Sedo are from St. Albert, where Andrew Milne still holds a strong connection from his minor hockey days, while Szabo hails from Lethbridge and Landmark is from Sherwood Park.

Rural Alberta is represented by Miller Komarniski from Vegreville, Tavynn Hamilton from Cypress Country and Landon Scott from Beaumont.

B.C. raised players include Golden’s Owen Mastrioanni, who scored the winning overtime goal against the Drumheller Dragons to put Canmore into the AJHL final, Penticton’s Cole Wadsworth, Richmond’s Evan Markel and Gus Schill from Surrey.

Jonathan Gomez made the move north from Languna Beach, Calif., to be a member of the Eagles this season. Watson made the longest journey, coming from Weymouth, Mass., via high school hockey in West Chester, Penn.

The tournament runs May 7-17 with 10 teams split into two pools of five teams. A four-game, round-robin will be played with the first-place finishers in each pool advancing to the semifinal round while the second- and third-place finishers will face off in the quarterfinals.

“It’s a round-robin to start, but the advantages to finishing first in your pool and having a bye in the quarters is immense,” says Milne. “From our standpoint, it’s one game at a time. That is how we approached the whole playoffs, and that is what we anticipate doing in this tournament.”

Canmore’s pool includes a pair of heavyweights in the Canadian Junior Hockey League: the top-ranked Rockland Nationals, champions of the Central Canada Hockey League; No. 2-ranked Niverville Nighthawks, winners of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League; Thunder Bay North Stars, who won the Superior International Junior Hockey League; and the host Summerside Western Capitals.

The other pool includes: No. 3 ranked Toronto Patriots of the Ontario Junior Hockey League; No. 4 ranked CF de Longueuil from the LHJAAAQ; Greater Sudbury Cubs representing the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League for the third consecutive year; Flin Flon Bombers, despite being a northern Manitoba community due to logistical challenges competes in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League; and the Truro Bearcats, the Maritime Hockey League champions.

(All times MT, all games live streaming at HNLive.ca, with select game coverage to be announced available on TSN)

Thursday, May 7: Greater Sudbury vs Toronto, 9 a.m., Rockland vs Canmore, 1 p.m., Niverville vs Summerside, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, May 8: Flin Flon vs CF Longueuil, 9 a.m., Canmore vs Thunder Bay, 1 p.m., Greater Sudbury vs Truro, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 9: Thunder Bay vs Niverville, 9 a.m., Flin Flon vs Toronto, 1 p.m., Summerside vs Rockland, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 10: Truro vs CF Longueuil, 1 p.m., Summerside vs Canmore, 4:30 p.m.

Monday, May 11: Flin Flon vs Greater Sudbury, 9 a.m., Rockland vs Thunder Bay, 1 p.m., Toronto vs Truro, 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 12: Greater Sudbury vs CF Longueuil, 9 a.m., Niverville vs Canmore, 1 p.m., Thunder Bay vs Summerside, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 13: CF Longueuil vs Toronto, 9 a.m., Rockland vs Niverville, 1 p.m., Truro vs Flin Flon, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, May 15: Quarter-final No. 1, 1 p.m., Quarter-final No. 2, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 16: Semifinal No. 1, 1 p.m., Semifinal No. 2, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday: May 17: Championship Game, 4 p.m.

Rookie defenceman Watson has the distinction of scoring the AJHL championship goal in a 2-1 victory over the Wolverines in Whitecourt on Saturday, April 25. He would streak in from his point position and slam home an inch perfect pass from Landmark, out of the right corner into the far side the goal at 6:18 of the second period, snapping a 1-1 tie. The Eagles would hold on to that lead for the next 33-plus minutes.

The victory capped a playoff run that saw the Eagles win 12 of 15 playoff games, defeating the defending Centennial Cup champion Calgary Canucks in six games and sweeping away the Drumheller Dragons in four games before needing just five games to best Whitecourt.

Goaltender Scheiwiller was named the playoff’s most valuable player, finishing the post-season with a 12-2 record with two shutouts, a 2.38 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. In the series against Whitecourt, the 20-year-old, who was named the league’s top goaltender during the regular season, was 4-1 with a 2.00 GAA and a .940 S/Pct.

Second-year forward, and still just 18 years old, Lutic was the top scorer in the playoffs with seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points.

Behind me after Andrew Milne has gone again to answer another phone call, players come and go from the dressing room, some are still using these first few days after a five-week sprint to the title to rest and reset their bodies, some head to the weight room, some wait for some therapeutic physiotherapy from the ever smiling Rowe for the numerous bumps and bruises that have accumulated. All know they would do it all over if it meant winning it all again.

As I prepare to leave, in walks Scheiwiller, still clutching the Inter Pipeline Cup — the AJHL championship trophy. Three days after raising the trophy in triumph, the locker room jokes that he hasn’t let it out of his sight, even when he turns in for the night.

It’s just the latest trophy from a remarkable season for this franchise with maybe, just maybe, one more remarkable achievement to be claimed.