PHOTO – Simon Philp scored his 11 goal of the season last night in Okotoks but it wasn't enough as the Eagles dropped a 2-1 decision to the Oilers.
NEXT HOME GAME – SATURDAY, NOV. 30 – BROOKS BANDITS – 7 PM
The Canmore Eagles wrapped up their first half of their 2013-14 Alberta Junior Hockey League season last night with a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the Okotoks Oilers before 623 fans at the Centennial Arena in Okotoks.
The Eagles, who were trying to track down the Oilers for second-place in the AJHL Southern Division standings, held a 1-0 lead at the midway mark of the third period but couldn’t hang on as the Oilers scored two late third period goals to escape with their first victory over the Eagles in their four attempts this season.
With the loss, the Eagles wrap up the first half of their current AJHL season with a respectable 15-13-2 record, good enough for 32 points and fourth-place in the tightly bunched AJHL Southern Division standings, just two points behind the third-place Drumheller Dragons and three back of the second-place Oilers.
Okotoks outshot the Eagles by a 34-26 margin. Simon Philp, with his 11, had the lone Eagle goal while goaltender Ryan Ferguson was named the Eagles “Star of the Game”.
“We played a good hockey game tonight, but sometimes you get the bounces and sometimes you don’t,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne afterwards. “That was a good hockey game between two good teams. The loss is a little harder to accept because of the late goals, but I’m proud of the way the boys competed. As a coach, you can’t ask for much more from them than they gave tonight. We just have to take the positives from tonight and remember them for Saturday night as we have another tough team to play”.
The Eagles will begin the second half of their AJHL season tonight when they host the first-place, and defending Canadian JR. A champions, Brooks Bandits at the Canmore Recreation Centre. Game time is 7 PM.
In their three previous meetings this season, the Eagles have won two games by scores of 4-3 and 2-1, and lost 5-1. The Bandits (20-8-3) are currently riding a six game winning streak.
NOTEBOOK: The Eagles welcomed back Jakob Lavoie to their lineup last night after the rock-steady defenceman missed the previous five games with an upper body injury . . .Canmore is starting to get healthy again as the team is only missing Luke Simpson from their lineup and he is expected back within the next two weeks. . . The Eagles X-mas tree lot officially opens today with 380 of the finest Fraser and Balsam X-mas trees available. The lot is located on Bow Valley Trail, directly across the street from the Georgetown Inn. Weekend hours are from 11-6 PM.