PHOTO: Eagle defenceman Brett Schimmel blasts a puck towards the Whitecourt net on Saturday night but the Eagles were shut-out by a 6-0 score. Photo courtesy of Pam Doyle.
UPCOMING GAMES
Friday Feb. 26 – Canmore at Camrose
Saturday, Feb. 27 – Canmore at Spruce Grove
Sunday, Feb. 28 – Canmore at Drayton Valley
After picking up at least a single point in each of their first six games of February, the Canmore Eagles suffered their first loss in regulation time during February dropping a 6-0 decision to the visiting Whitecourt Wolverines at the Canmore Recreation Centre on Saturday night.
With regulars Ryley Risling, Brayden Biccum, Kyle Pauls, Nolan Kurylo, and Cole Noble all sidelined with various injuries, the Eagles were no match for the nation’s #9 ranked Wolverines as Whitecourt dominated the game outshooting the Eagles by a wide 44-19 margin.
Whitecourt scored thee powerplay goals on six opportunities, while the Eagles went 0-7 on the powerplay.
With the loss, the Eagles regular season record drops to 24-25-6, while Whitecourt improved their record to an impressive 40-10-5. Despite the loss, the Eagles continue to hold on to fourth-place in the AJHL Southern Division standings with 54 points, seven points ahead of the fifth-place Drumheller Dragons. Both the Eagles and the Dragons have five games remaining in their regular season schedules.
“Tonight we got ourselves into some penalty trouble and that certainly didn’t help our cause,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne, whose club will now head out on the road for three very difficult games next weekend in Camrose, Spruce Grove and Drayton Valley. “Whitecourt is a top ranked team in the country for a reason – they skate hard and they certainly use their size to their advantage. We need our full lineup to be competitive against a team like that. Although this loss is tough, we are still 4-1-2 for the month, so we will just re-group and get ready for next weekend.”
After next weekend’s road trip, the Eagles will wrap up their 2015-16 season with a pair of home games against the Olds Grizzlys on Tuesday, March 1 and the Drumhller Dragons on Friday, March 4.
NOTEBOOK: Special thanks to Calgary Flames PA announcer Beesley for coming out to Canmore to work the PA for Saturday night’s game.
