Despite a heroic effort by goaltender Ryan Ferguson, the Canmore Eagles suffered a 1-0 loss to the Drumheller Dragons in an Alberta Junior Hockey League game played Friday night in Drumheller.
Ferguson, who was named the Eagles “Star of the Game” for a remarkable fifth time this season, stopped 30 of 31 Drumheller shots but it wasn’t enough as the Canmore offence managed just 18 shots on veteran Dragon goaltender Curtis Skip. Ferguson was especially sharp in the second period when the Dragons outshot the Eagles by a wide 18-3 margin.
The loss drops the Eagles regular season record to 7-7, while Drumheller improves to 8-3-3.
“We knew they were going to come at us hard and we were prepared for that, but for some reason our offence dried up tonight,” said Eagle's Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “We had a breakaway on our first shift and didn't score and it proved to be costly as they capitalized on one of our breakdowns and that was the difference in a one-goal game. There were some huge momemtum swings in this game and we had our chances to get a point or two in the standings but it just didn't happen.”
With the loss, Canmore now finds itself in 7th-place in the eight-team AJHL Southern Division standings with 14 points, 10 points behind the first-place Camrose Kodiaks.
The Eagles travel to Olds on Saturday night (Oct. 18) to meet the Grizzlys (9-5-2). In two previous encounters this season, Olds has been victorious both times winning 6-4 in Canmore on Sept. 13, and 5-4 in Olds on Sept. 16.