PHOTO: Eagle's captain Connor Wilson celeberates a second period goal as Canmore went on to a 5-3 victory over Sherwood Park on Friday night.
NEXT GAME – Saturday, October 4 @ Brooks
NEXT HOME GAME – Friday, Oct. 10 vs Brooks Bandits
Canmore native Simon Philp had a pair of goals (3rd & 4th) and added an assist to lead the Canmore Eagles to a 5-3 victory over the visiting Sherwood Park Crusaders in an Alberta Junior Hockey League game played Friday night at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
The victory, before a crowd of just 375, improves the Eagle’s early season record to 5-4, while the Crusader’s record drops to 6-4-1.
Rookie Matt Forchuk, with his first ever AJHL goal, Kurt Hildebrand (2nd) and Connor Wilson (5th) had the other Eagle goals, while defenceman Brett Schimmel chipped in with a pair of assists and was named the Eagle’s “Star of the Game”.
Canmore rookie goaltender Levi Nelson picked up his second career AJHL win, and first on home ice, stopping 38 of 41 Crusader shots as the Eagles were outshot by a wide 41-22 margin.
“Our compete level tonight was where it needs to be every game,” said Eagle’s Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “We had a lot of players step up tonight and play real solid games, especially guys like Jakob Lavoie, Brett Radford and Jeremy Gordon. They didn’t back down from anything tonight and their physicality really help set the tone for the entire team.”
Nelson had another solid game in the nets for Canmore and also came in for some praise from Milne.
“I think everyone knows that Ryan Ferguson is our starting goaltender on most nights but Levi really came in and played another solid game for us tonight,” said Milne of the diminutive rookie netminder who is now a perfect 2-0. “He doesn’t back down from anything or anyone and he has started his AJHL career with two big victories for us. It’s a good feeling to have two good goalies who are ready to battle for us every night.”
The Eagles will now hit the road for two consecutive games travelling to Brooks on Saturday night (Oct. 4) to face the Bandits (4-5) and then to Calgary on Tuesday night (Oct. 7) to face the Canucks (4-5).
NOTEBOOK: With a goal and an assist last night, Eagle captain Connor Wilson now has 13 points (5 goals and 8 assists) in just nine games and is tied for top spot in the AJHL scoring parade with five other players. . . .Simon Philp (9 pts) and Jordan Revie (8 pts) aren’t far behind. . . . Special thanks to Boston Pizza for some excellent post-game food for our Volunteer Appreciation night
