PHOTO: Eagle forward Matt Forchuk picked up three assists last night but the Eagles fell 6-3 to the Camrose Kodiaks in Camrose. (file photo courtesy of Pam Doyle)
The Canmore Eagles converted for three powerplay goals but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles suffered a 6-3 loss to the Camrose Kodiaks in Alberta Junior Hockey League action played Friday night in Camrose before a crowd of 1,365.
The loss drops the Eagles overall record to 24-26-6 and leaves them in fourth-place in the AJHL’s Southern Division standings with 54 points, just one point ahead of the surging Drumheller Dragons. The fifth-place Dragons (24-29-5) picked up two points in the standings with a 4-3 OT victory over the Calgary Mustangs on Friday night.
As a result of Friday’s night’s AJHL action, it has now been confirmed that the Canmore Eagles will face the Drumheller Dragons in the opening round best-of-five playoffs, which will begin in mid-March. The only question remaining is which team will finish in fourth-place and claim the important home-ice advantage. The Eagles have four games remaining on their schedule, while the Dragons have just two games left to play. The two teams will meet in Canmore on Friday, March 4 in what could prove to a highly entertaining game to ultimately determine who finishes in fourth-place.
In Friday’s 6-3 loss in Camrose, Braiden Doucette (13th), Brett Radford (21st) and Lane Olson (17th) all scored powerplay goals for the Eagles, while forwards Matt Forchuk and Logan Ferguson chipped in with three and two assists respectively. The Eagles were outshot 33-21 on the night.
“Tonight our powerplay certainly gave us a chance to win the game, but unfortunately we just got outplayed when we were playing five on five,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “We just didn't do a good enough job when we were playing at even strength.”
The Eagles will continue their current three-game road trip with a stop in Spruce Grove on Saturday night to play the first-place Saints (47-7-4), before wrapping up the trip with a Sunday afternoon tilt in Drayton Valley against the Thunder (22-31-4).
Canmore will wrap up their 2015-16 regular season schedule with two very important home games with the Olds Grizzlys coming to Canmore on Tuesday, March 1, and the Dragons to follow-up on Friday, March 4.
NOTEBOOK: With three points last night, second-year Eagle forward Matt Forchuk now has 102 points in just 103 AJHL games played. With 70 points in just 54 games played this season, Forchuk currently sits in fourth-place in the AJHL scoring parade, four points behind leader Chase Olsen of Olds. . . Linemate Logan Ferguson is in fifth-place overall with 68 points.