Eagles reaching for the top
The Canmore Eagles won two of three games on their Alberta Junior Hockey League road trip through the northwest of the province. However, the team missed out gaining a share of first place in the South Division with an overtime loss in the final game.
Canmore started the weekend with a 5-1 victory over the Grande Prairie Storm on Friday (Oct. 4) followed by a 3-2 win over the Whitecourt Wolverines on Saturday (Oct. 5), the top two teams in the North Division. The team then took on new South Division rival Drayton Valley Thunder on Sunday (Oct. 6) and despite rallying late in the game to tie the contest would lose 3-2 in the 3-on-3 overtime session.
Canmore is now six wins, two regulation losses and an overtime defeat for 13 points putting them third in the South behind the Drumheller Dragons (7-2-0-0) and Calgary Canucks (6-1-1-1), both on 14 points.
Eagles 5 at Storm 1
Canmore got a measure of revenge on Grande Prairie after losing 3-2 at the AJHL Showcase in Calgary on Sept. 27.
Owen Jones finished with one goal and two assists as the Eagles dominated the mid-day clash billed as “Hockey Hookey” in the Swan City. District students were bused in for annual school day clash with this year’s attendance 2,749. The Eagles also took part in last season’s Hockey Hookey game which also attended more than 2,000 school-age fans.
Canmore led 2-1 after the first period on goals by Zach Coutu (4th goal this season) and Jones (2), while Zach Bansley (2) scored for Grande Prairie.
Also scoring for the Eagles were Cohen Daoust (3) in the second period, Ethan Look (3) and Nathan MacPherson-Ridgewell (1) in the third period.
Canmore outshot Grande Prairie 32-20, with the Storm held to just four shots in each of the second and third periods. Hudson Sedo was in goal for the Eagles with Nicholas Jones in goal for the Storm.
Eagles 3 at Wolverines 2
Canmore’s 2023-24 season ended with a Game 7 loss in the AJHL playoffs semifinal round in Whitecourt last spring. The Eagles were back at JDA Place for the first time since that heartbreaking loss.
Whitecourt took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Ethan Short (2) and Joey Vetrano (2).
Canmore tied the game with two second-period goals, coming from Kayden Rawji (2) and Rhett Dekowny (1).
Aidan Tkachuk produced the game winner at 4:02 of the third period. The rookie forward, who led the Calgary Royals U18 in scoring last season with 17 goals and 44 points, was wide open at the top of the goal crease and swept home the rebound off of Brayden Schwartz’s right-wing shot for his first junior A goal.
Canmore outshot Whitecourt 29-21. Sedo was again in goal for the Eagles with Zac Onyskiw in goal for the Wolverines.
Eagles 2 at Thunder 3 (OT)
Drayton Valley has been the bane of Canmore the past two seasons, winning both matchups so far this season – the Thunder won 5-2 in Canmore on Sept. 20 – and two of three matchups last campaign.
Dekowny (3) scored both goals for Canmore. His first was the opening marker of the game at 3:12 of the second period. The veteran forward’s second tied the contest with 3:52 left in the third period.
Between the two goals, Drayton Valley would rally to take the lead on first of the season goals by Oskar Aitken-Salmons and Dryden Tomkow. Both goals came in the second-period.
Harper LoLacher, also with his first of the season, came through with the game-winning backhander at 3:31 of the overtime period.
Drayton Valley outshot Canmore 37-35 with Alex Scheiwiller in goal for the Eagles and Nicholas Cristiano in goal for the Thunder.
Next up for the Eagles are two games against the last-place Bonnyville Pontiacs (2-4-0-1), at the Canmore Recreation Centre: Saturday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. These are the only home games in October for Canmore as they finish the month with just two more games, both in Fort McMurray (Oct. 19-20), over the final 18 days.
The notebook
Zach Coutu had one goal and three assists in the three weekend games and has a team leading 10 points (4G-6A) through nine games. The second-year forward is tied for fifth overall in AJHL scoring.
Rookie Sedu has won all four of his starts this season, with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage, tops in those categories among all goaltenders with at least two appearances.
Canmore has the second-best defence in the league, having allowed just 20 goals in nine games (2.08 goals-allowed per game), while fifth in offence with 24 goals (2.67 goals-for per game).
Canmore’s power play was 27% (3-for-11) on the road trip but is still last overall in the AJHL at 11.8% (4-for-34), while the penalty kill is the best in the league at 88.6% (31-for35) after killing off all 11 shorthanded situations on the weekend.
Jack Bousquet is now a member of the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels. The 2007-born defender moved up to major junior after the Rebels acquired his rights on Oct. 1 from the Spokane Chiefs, who drafted the Dallas, Texas native in the 10th round of the WHL Prospects Draft of 2022. The 6-foot-1 rookie had appeared in all six games he was a member of the Eagles and had one assist.
The Eagles added Christian Luke (2006, Calgary), who started this season with the Calgary Canucks (3GP-0G-1A). The 6-foot-1 defenceman was acquired Oct. 2 for future considerations to help bolster the blue line and appeared in all three weekend games.
Whitecourt’s lineup featured former Canmore forward Stefan Serediak (2005, Edmonton), acquired Sept. 1, who was limited by injury last season to 39 regular-season games (2G-3A) and four playoff games (1G-0A), all against the Wolverines.
EAGLES NEST: Tickets for Canmore Eagles’ home games are available at canmoreeagles.ca/tickets. … You can also watch all Eagles’ games as well as the rest of the AJHL online, along with much more live and on demand sports, through a FloSports subscription available at flohockey.tv.
Russ Ullyot