Monday, December 10, 2012 –The Canmore Eagles will attempt to rid themselves of two losing streaks when they host the visiting Okotoks Oilers on Tuesday night (December 11) at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
After racing out to nine wins in their first 16 games this season, the Eagles (10-16-4) enter Tuesday’s home affair riding a nine game losing streak. They will also be looking to end a 14-game losing streak against the Oilers (18-12-2) that has festered and accumulated during the past three Alberta Junior Hockey League seasons.
The Eagles and Oilers have met three times already this season, all in Okotoks, with the Oilers winning 1-0 in overtime on Sept. 25, 5-2 on November 2, and 2-1 on November 6.
“It will certainly be a big challenge for us, but we have to break out of this funk at some point,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne, whose team has been beset by a slew of crippling injuries. “We lost 1-0 to them in overtime in one game, and gave up the winning goal with just 10 seconds left in the third period in another game, so we know we have the ability to play with them. We just haven’t been able to close the deal when we’ve had the opportunities to do so.”
For the Eagles to have any chance of victory against the visiting Oilers, Milne is hoping that his 20 year-old veterans rediscover their scoring prowess.
Zack Rassell, who was healthy scratch in the Eagle’s last game, is scoreless in his last 8 games, captain Riley Point is scoreless in his last 11 games, and Steven Phee has just one goal in his last 10 games.
“It’s not unusual for a player to find himself in a goal scoring slump at some point in a season, but for all of them to slump at the same time is making it fairly difficult for us to succeed,” said Milne. “There’s no doubt that we are a fragile hockey team right now. We are obviously having a hard time scoring goals and when we make a mistake defensively, it seems to end up in the back of our net.
“If we are going to turn this thing around, we need to come out and work our butts off, score a few goals offensively, and hopefully regain our confidence.”
Game time Tuesday night is 7 pm.
