The Canmore Eagles travelled to Brooks Friday evening to take on the team with the best record in the AJHL and the #3 ranked team in Canada, the Brooks Bandits. The Bandits have only lost 3 times this season (28-3) and are undefeated on home ice. They continued their success at home last night as they downed the visiting Eagles 4-1.
Despite the loss, Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne had some positives to say about the team’s performance.
“I thought we played a good game, we played hard, we just didn’t execute on our chances and they got a lucky bounce on 1 of their goals,” said Milne.
The loss sees the Eagles’ season record drop to 16-12-3 for 35 points, but the Eagles remain in sole possession of 3rd Place in the tight AJHL South division. The Eagles are 1 point ahead of the Camrose Kodiaks and 2 points up on the Okotoks Oilers and Calgary Mustangs.
The Eagles were in the game for most of the contest. It was a scoreless game until the Third minute of the 2nd period when the hometown Bandits opened the scoring with a Shorthanded goal. They added a Power Play goal at 16:34 of the middle frame to take a 2-0 lead going into the 2nd intermission. The Bandits increased their lead to 3-0 at 12:43 of the 3rd period, before Eagles Captain Colton Young got his team on the board with his 16th goal of the campaign at 13:32. Younger brother Alex and Mark Drohan picked up the assists. However only 23 seconds later, the Bandits regained their 3-goal cushion and that was it for scoring in the game.
Thomas Davis was in the Eagles’ cage for the 2nd consecutive game and he certainly shone, as he stopped 36 of the 40 shots he faced.
“Thomas played very well,” said Coach Milne. “He deserved to get the chance to get back-to-back starts”. The Bandits outshot the Eagles by a 40-23 margin.
The Eagles now get another week off from games, as their next action is on Friday, December 14 when they host the North division opponent, the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (14-9-6). Puck drop is 7 pm. That game will start off a 3-game home stand for the Eagles before they head on their Christmas break.
“We need to maintain good habits,” said Coach Milne regarding what the team will be focusing on at practice this coming week.
EAGLES FUN FACTS:
– Last night was the 1st time since November 11 in Drayton Valley that the Eagles were outshot in a game. The Eagles had outshot their opponents in their previous 8 contests.