PHOTO: The big line of Matt Forchuk (#10), Logan Ferguson (#20) and Lane Olson (#12) combined for 7 points last night as the Eagles downed the home-town Calgary Canucks 5-2. (Pam Doyle file photo)
NEXT GAME – Canmore at Drumheller – Sat. Nov. 7
NEXT HOME GAME – Calgary Canucks at Canmore – Tues. Nov. 10
Led by three-point performances by Matt Forchuk, Brett Radford and Logan Ferguson, the Canmore Eagles defeated the Calgary Canucks 5-2 in Alberta Junior Hockey League action on Wednesday night at the Max Bell Arena in Calgary.
Forchuk, who was recently named as the Mountain FM “Player of the Month for October”, started the month of November off with a bang scoring two goals (10 & 11th) and adding an assist. Radford, who was the “Player of the Month” for September had a goal (8th) and two assists, while Ferguson also had a goal (7th) and two assists for the Eagles. Brett Schimmel (2nd) also scored for Canmore, while defenceman Braiden Doucette chipped in with two assists.
The victory improved the Eagles record to 11-7-2, good enough for third-place in the AJHL Southern Division standings and just three points behind the first-place Camrose Kodiaks.
“Our leaders were our leaders tonight and they took control of the game right from the start,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “With the small crowd (124) on hand, these games can sometimes be tough to get up for, but the veterans have the experience of playing in these games and they stepped up to the plate.”
Eagle goaltender Ryan Gilchrist stopped 29 of the 31 Canuck shots fired his way to improve his overall record to 6-3-1.
“Gilly was great tonight,” said Milne, who has the luxury of starting either Gilchrist or Ryan Bontorin (5-3-1) on any given night. “He made a huge save for us right at the end of the second period when the Canucks had a wide open net but he managed to get a glove on the shot and that save preserved our one goal lead heading into the third period. After that stop, we dominated in the third period.”
NOTEBOOK: The Eagles powerplay scored three goals last night and has now connected for 10 PP goals in their past five games. Canmore's powerplay has been red hot on the road this season connecting for 15 goals on 45 opportunities for a conversion rate of .33 percent, tops in the AJHL . . Matt Forchuk was named as the Eagles “Star of the Game” last night – his sixth such award this season. With his three-point performance, Forchuk has moved into second-place in the AJHL scoring parade with 29 points, just one point back of Bonnyville’s Bobby McMann . . .Fellow teammates Lane Olson currently sit in 7th place in scoring with 25 points, while Logan Ferguson is in 15th-place with 22 points.