PHOTO: Canmore’s Coy Prevost scored his 14th goal of the season Friday night but the Eagles dropped a 3-2 decision to the Calgary Canucks. (photo courtesy of Pam Doyle)
UPCOMING HOME GAME
Spruce Grove Saints at Canmore – Saturday, Jan. 16 – 7 PM
The 2016 portion of their Alberta Junior Hockey League schedule has not been kind to the Canmore Eagles.
The Eagles dropped their sixth game in seven starts to begin the New Year on Friday night losing 3-2 to the seventh-place Calgary Canucks before 421 fans at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
The loss droped the once 18-12-4 Eagle’s record to 19-19-4, while the Canucks improved to 13-26-2.
With three veteran players sitting out their second games of their two-game suspensions (Brett Radford, Braden Saretsky and Kurt Hildebrand) and two others sidelined with injuries (Lane Olson and Brayden Biccum), the Eagles lineup was laced with rookies and their inexperience was on full display.
“Some players must be confused on what an “opportunity” is, because these last two games were just that and they did nothing to take advantage of it,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne in reference to the team’s poor effort last Tuesday night when they lost 7-2 to the sixth-place Olds Grizzlys. “ With five guys out of the lineup, players need to step up and they didn't. It tells us whom we are going to have to rely on in the playoffs. Coaches want players they trust in the playoffs. If you don't have it now, you’re not going to get it.”
The Eagles received their goals last night from Coy Prevost (14th) and Braiden Doucette (11th), while goaltender Ryan Gilchrist took the loss to see his record drop to 9-6-2. Canmore outshot the Canucks by a 40-33 margin.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, the schedule ahead doesn’t get any easier as they will host the Northern Division’s first-place Spruce Grove Saints (34-6-3) tonight at the Canmore Recreation Centre, before hitting the road for seven of their next eight games.
NOTEBOOK: Eagle forward Logan Ferguson, who just accepted an NCAA Division 1 scholarship from Holy Cross this week, played his 100th AJHL game last night. . . Ryley Risling, who also accepted an NCAA Division1 scholarship from Vermont earlier this season, played his 100th AJHL game as an Eagle last weekend.