PHOTO – Ryley Risling had a pair of goals for the Eagles but it wasn't enough as Canmore fell 5-4 to the Brooks Bandits in AJHL action Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of Julie Wilson)
NEXT GAME – TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7 AT CALGARY CANUCKS
NEXT HOME GAME –FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10 – BROOKS BANDITS – 7 PM
The Canmore Eagles lost a tough one on Saturday night as they fell 5-4 to the hometown Bandits in an Alberta Junior Hockey League game played before 1,172 fans at the Centeniial Arena.
The Eagles had a 3-1 lead halfway through the 2nd period, but the Bandits stormed back with four unanswered goals. The loss brings the Eagle’s early season record back to .500 with five wins and five losses and improves the Bandit’s record to an identical 5-5.
Second-year Eagle forward Ryley Risling scored twice (6 & 7) for Canmore and was named the Eagle’s “Star of the Game”. Clay Murray, with his 1st AJHL goal, and Joe Serpico (2) had the other Canmore goals.
Eagle goaltender Ryan Ferguson was back between the pipes and stopped 29 out of 34 Bandit shots but saw his early season record drop to 3-5. The Eagles outshot the Bandits by a 38-34 margin.
“We deserved a better fate tonight,” said Eagle’s Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “The difference tonight was that they scored on their 5-3 powerplay and we didn’t. It was a pretty tame game for the first two periods and then all hell broke loose in the third. We had chances to win the game but didn’t execute. Our powerplay has been pretty good to date, but we couldn’t get that big goal tonight when we really needed it.”
The Eagles will try to get back in the win column on Tuesday (Oct. 7) when they travel to Calgary to face the Canucks at the Max Bell Arena.
Following Tuesday’s game, the Eagles will return to Canmore for a couple of huge home games next weekend hosting the Brooks Bandits on Friday, October 10 and the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (7-4) on Saturday, October 11. Game time for both games is 7 pm.