Eagles Fall Short Against Kodiaks in Playoff Preview

The Canmore Eagles will start their opening-round playoff series against the Camrose Kodiaks. On Sunday, the Eagles had a preview of their upcoming series in Camrose for the 6th and final regular-season meeting against the Kodiaks. Playing without 6 of their regular players, the Eagles had a good battle but fell just short losing 4-3. The Eagles who are the 5th seed in the AJHL South Division have a record of 23-30-4 for 50 points, while the 4th seed Kodiaks who were concluding their regular season schedule have a record of 31-24-3 for 65 points.
The six Eagles players who were enjoying an afternoon off were team?s leading scorer Alex Young, Ethan Schaeffer, Zach Carlson, Connor Lyons, Tye Carriere and Dylan Witzke.
?I thought we played really well,? said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. ?We competed and battled hard. We were good in many areas.?
The Eagles also dressed 3 Affiliate Players who were playing in their first AJHL games. The 3 call ups were Forward Kyle Young, Alex?s younger brother, Forward Jace Benvie and Forward Logan Hauer. Young plays Midget AAA with the Calgary Royals, while Benvie and Hauer play for the Midget AAA Calgary Flames.
?All 3 players played hard,? said Coach Milne. ?They were in the right spot, they did what they had to do. Jace Benvie was rewarded with a goal?.
After a scoreless first period, the flood gates opened in the middle frame as a total of 6 goals were scored. It was Kodiaks Forward Erik Miller who scored the first goal of the game at 4:15. The Eagles answered back at 5:50 on a goal from Michael Spafford, his 9th of the season. Lane Paddison and Logan Hauer assisted. The Kodiaks regained the lead on a goal from Defenceman Robert Kincaid at 6:37. The Kodiaks then scored a Power Play goal from MacKenzie Welke at 13:00. The Eagles scored a Power Play goal of their own at 16:48, courtesy of Cameron Chin?s 5th goal of the season. Drae Gardiner assisted. But the Kodiaks regained their 2-goal cushion before the end of the period on a goal from their leading scorer Cody Laskosky at 18:33.
Only one goal was scored in the final frame and it came from Eagles Affiliate Jace Benvie with his 1st AJHL goal. Tristan Zandee and Cam Sterling assisted.
Between the pipes for the Eagles, it was Kadin Kilpatrick who got the nod and he made 19 saves on 23 shots. The final shots on goal were 41-23 in favour of the Eagles.
The Eagles have one final game of preparation for the playoffs. On Tuesday, Feb 25th the Eagles will host the Okotoks Oilers for a 7:00 pm puck drop.