Story courtesy of Russ Ullyot – Sunmedia – Crag and Canyon
Mackenzie Bauer scored four goals and the hometown Camrose Kodiaks skated off to a 5-0 victory over the Canmore Eagles on Friday night.
Bauer, who was acqured from the Lloydminster Bobcats earlier in the season, now has 12 goals and 28 points in 18 Alberta Junior Hockey League games with the Kodiaks. He had only one goal and one assist in seven games in Lloydminster.
Played at Encana Arena, 1,098 fans took in the first of two South division matchups between the second-place Kodiaks and third-place Eagles. The teams meet again in Camrose on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Also scoring for Camrose was Paul Lovsin, his fourth of the season, while Patrick Gora made 27 saves in recording his second shutout of the season.
“We didn't take our chances and it cost us,” said Andrew Milne, Eagles GM and head coach. “Our effort was there at times but our brains weren't working properly. We gave Camrose too many pucks right in the slot.
Looking towards Saturday's game, Milne said, “At times we played very well tonight. There were many positives to build off of but we are going to have to get our heads working correctly… be smarter with the puck.”
The Eagles called up Ryan Swier from the junior B Coaldale Colts to fill out a depleted roster and moved Cam Noble from defence to forward. Missing were Jeremy Gordon, serving the first of two-game suspension for blow-to-the-head major penalty he received last weekend against the Calgary Mustangs, and injured players Kurt Hildebrand, Daylan Marchi and Nolan Kurylo.
The numbers were depleted even further when Lane Olson took a game misconduct for a hit from behind 13 minutes into the game.
The Eagles will also be without two of their leading scorers Matt Forchuk and Logan Ferguson for Saturday's game, as both of whom will be at the Canada West selection camp in Leduc, which begins Saturday.
Camrose is second in the South at 22 wins, eight regulation-time losses and five overtime/shootout defeats, seven points better than Canmore at 16-11-2.
The Brooks Bandits are now setting the pace in the South, with a 6-1 win over league-leading Spruce Grove Saints giving them a 21-6-2 record. The Saints lead the North with a 26-5-1 mark.
russ.ullyot@sunmedia.ca
