PHOTO – Canmore Mayor John Borrowman and CAO Lisa de Soto drop the ceremonial puck to officially start the AJHL 2014-15 regular season on Friday night. Joining the ceremony is Eagle's captain Conner Wilson, Eddy the Eagle, Eagle president Darryl Lockwood and Wolverine player Evan Warmington. Photo courtesy of Mark Neustaeder.
NEXT HOME GAME – Saturday, Sept. 13 – Olds Grizzlys – 7 PM
The Canmore Eagles opened their 2014-15 Alberta Junior Hockey League season on a winning note Friday night as they defeated the visiting Whitecourt Wolverines 6-5 in a highly entertaining and physical game played before 433 spectators at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
The victory marked the first time the Eagles have won their regular season opener since the 2007-08 season.
The Eagles received goals from six different players as Ryley Risling, Joe Serpico, Connor Wilson, Nikolas Kosman, Kyle Pauls and Jordan Revie all scored their first goals of the season. Goaltender Ryan Ferguson picked up the victory stopping 29 of 34 Whitecourt shots. Wilson also picked up a pair of assists to record a three point night, while defenceman Brett Schimmel also chipped in with a pair of assits.
“The leaders on our hockey team showed us the way tonight,” said Eagles assistant coach Jeremy Reich, who singled out defenceman Jakob Lavoie for his stellar play and physicality. “We played a very structured game and used all four lines and six defenceman throughout the night. Everyone contributed. It wasn’t necessarily a pretty win, but it was our first game of the season with our full lineup on the ice and we’re happy to get the two points in the standings.”
The Eagles will look to improve their early season record to 2-0 when they host the visiting Olds Grizzlys at the Canmore Recreation Centre on Saturday night. The Grizzlys come to Canmore fresh off a 4-3 victory in Okotoks on Friday night. Game time is 7 PM.
NOTEBOOK : In a vote taken by the players prior to Game One of the regular season, forward Connor Wilson was selected as the Eagle’s captain for the 2014-15 season. This will be Wilson’s third season with the Eagles. In his first year with Canmore, Wilson had 8 goals and 15 assists for 23 points, but bumped those statistics up substantially last year to 14 goals and 43 assists for 57 points . . . . Twenty year-old defenceman Nikolas Kosman and 20-year-old Canmore natives Jeremy Gordon and Simon Philp were selected as assistant captains. . . Congratulation to Drumheller Dragon defenceman and Canmore native Tristan Thompson who recently accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Alaska Fairbanks starting in the 2016-17 season. . . A big thank you to Scott McLeod, his Shoppers Drug Mart team and the Canmore Wolverines football club for their pre-game BBQ and game sponsorship. . . Thanks also to Canmore Mayor John Borrowman and CAO Lisa De Soto for helping out with the ceremonial puck drop at last night’s opening game.