After a week a full of practice, the Canmore Eagles entered their final stretch of games before the Christmas break. The Eagles started off the stretch on a high note as they defeated the visiting Fort McMurray Oil Barons 6-2 in front of 445 fans at the Canmore Recreation Centre. With the win, the Eagles move into a tie for 4th Place in the South division with the Okotoks Oilers. Both teams are only 2 points back of the Camrose Kodiaks for 3rd Place. The Eagles’ record is now 17-12-3 for 37 points.
The Oil Barons entered the contest on a roll as they were on a 3-game winning streak and were 7-2-1 in their previous 10 games. They also have one of the most dangerous lines in the AJHL lead by their leading scorer Reed Morison who is 3rd in the scoring race with 45 points in 32 games and he was named the AJHL Offensive Player of last week.
After the 1st period, the Eagles found themselves down 2-1 heading to the dressing room for the 1st Intermission. The Eagles took flight in the 2nd and 3rd period as they scored 5 unanswered goals. They also held the Barons’ top line off the scoring sheet.
“We started out well in the first 10 minutes of the first period,” said Eagles Assistant Coach and Assistant GM who was acting bench boss for the evening in Andrew Milne’s absence. “Then the game got away from us a little bit. We got caught in the extracurricular activity, rather than focusing on our game plan. We talked about it between the 1st and the 2nd period, then we went out and executed in the 2nd period and got rewarded.”
Leading the way in the scoring department was 2nd year forward Max Giangualano who scored a pair of goals (17 & 18). The 18-year-old from Calgary who was playing in his 2nd game since going to the tryouts for Team Canada West talked about his experience.
“It was a great experience to be with the boys,” said Giangualano. “Those guys, they’re really good and I thought it was a little faster pace. It got me to think a little bit more and it helped my game coming back here.”
The other Eagles players to find the back of the net were Mark Drohan (5), Banff native Kazu Prevost (3), Michael Spafford (6) and Tian Rask (8). Rask and Captain Colton Young had 2 points each. The Eagles dominated on the shot clock as they outshot the Oil Barons by a 41-19 margin. Logan Dyck got the start between the pipes and he made 17 saves to improve his record to 9-7-1.
The Eagles are back it tomorrow night, as they host another North division opponent, the Lloydminster Bobcats (7-25-1). Puck drop is 7:00 pm.
EAGLES FUN FACTS:
– The Eagles completed their season series with the Oil Barons and they swept the series winning all 3 contest and outscoring the Barons 16-8. For the 5th consecutive season, the season series between the 2 teams has resulted in a sweep. The Eagles swept the series in 2014-15 and 2015-16 and the Oil Barons swept the Eagles in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
– Eagles’ scout Mike Glawson was behind the Eagles bench for the 1st time tonight. Mike joined the Eagles’ scouting team last January and he is the Head Coach/Assistant General Manager of the Lomond Lakers of the Junior B Heritage League.