Eagles’ season ends in Game 7 loss

Not for lack of spirit, dedication, perseverance and sweat, the Canmore Eagles’ season has come to an untimely end.

The Drumheller Dragons ended the Eagles’ season with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday (April 1) in Game 7 of their South Division semifinal series. It was the third time in this series the visitors won at the Canmore Recreation Centre.

Drumheller got goals from Ellis Mieyette (his second of the series) in the first period, Bradley Gallo (4), on the power play, in the second period, Aiden Connell (1) and Jase Johnstone (1), into the empty net, in the third period.

Owen Jones (5) scored for Canmore in the final minute of the first period. Only the team’s second power-play goal of this series as the Eagles went 2-for-38 over the seven games.

Canmore outshot Drumheller 30-20 with Alex Scheiwiller in goal for the Eagles. Sean Cootes started for Drumheller but was forced to leave the game after one period and 12 shots faced, with Matthew Kondro going the last 40 minutes.

Drumheller won Games 1 (11-2), 3 (3-1) and 5 (2-1) before clinching the series in Game 7.

Canmore won Games 2 (5-2), 4 (3-1) and 6 (6-3), with the latter two wins at Drumheller Memorial Arena.

The CRC was a near impenetrable fortress for the Eagles during the regular season, unfortunately the same did not hold true in the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs. Canmore won 16 of its final 19 regular-season home games, with the three losses coming in overtimes and a shootout. That led to the Eagles posting the second-best record in the South Division at 35-12-5-2, and just a single point off of being the best team overall in the AJHL.

Drumheller finished third in the South division at 32-18-4-0.

Drumheller moves on to take on the No. 1 Calgary Canucks in the South Division final, which will open in Calgary on Friday, April 4. The Canucks dispatched the Camrose Kodiaks in five games in their first round series.

The North Division final features the No. 1 Whitecourt Wolverines versus the No. 2 Grande Prairie Storm. Whitecourt knocked out the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in five games. The Storm swept the Lloydminster Bobcats.

Drumheller’s Kai Matthew finished the series with eight points (2G-6a), tops among all skaters.

Dekowny was Canmore’s leading scorer in this series with seven points (2G-5A), however he has been held to just one assist over the past five games.

Jones’s five goals were the most by any player in the series.

Canmore has played five Game 7s in its history which dates back to the 1995-96 season but has won just one of those events. Drumheller, in existence since 2003, is now 1-1 in Game 7s.

Eight Canmore players saw their final junior eligible game on Tuesday: Emmanuel Hudson, a four-year Eagle, although he did not dress on Tuesday; Dekowny, Jones, Look and Kayden Rawji, who have been the nucleus of this team the past three seasons; Nolan Kazeil, a four-year AJHL veteran with the past two seasons in Canmore; Nathan MacPherson-Ridgewell, an Eagle the past two seasons; and Jaren Brinson, who came to Canmore at the start of this season after four years in the WHL.

EAGLES NEST: You can continue to follow the AJHL playoffs online, along with much more live and on demand hockey, through a FloSports subscription available at flohockey.tv.

Russ Ullyot