NEXT GAME – @ Camrose on Saturday, Jan. 3
NEXT HOME GAME – Drumheller Dragons on Tuesday, January 6
The Canmore Eagles got off to a rough start to begin the 2015 portion of their Alberta Junior Hockey League schedule as they absorbed a 9-0 drubbing at the hands of the Spruce Grove Saints on Friday night in a game played in Stony Plain.
The defending AJHL champion Saints improved their overall record to 31-6-3, while the Eagles saw their record drop to 18-19-1.
“It wasn’t a great outing for the Canmore Eagles,” said Canmore Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne, whose club was outshot 48-23 on the night. “We took some first period penalties that cost us some momentum and once we lost it, we never got it back. We got schooled in work ethic and compete level tonight. When you play the best team in the league, you can’t forget to bring your work ethic to the table. We had a lot of things go wrong. Needless to say, I’m shocked with our performance.”
Goaltender Ryan Ferguson was named the Eagle’s “Star of the Game” despite surrendering seven goals on 33 shots and being mercifully replaced by Levi Nelson early in the third period. Nelson gave up two more goals on the 10 shots he faced.
The Eagles will face another huge challenge on Saturday night as they will conclude their two game road trip with a visit to Camrose to take on the Southern Division leading Kodiaks. The Kodiaks (31-5-2) are currently ranked as the #2 Junior A team in the nation and will certainly be in a foul mood as they dropped a 6-4 decision to the visiting Bonnyville Pontiacs on Friday night. In their last outing against Canmore on Nov. 9, the Kodiaks blasted the Eagles by a 9-1 margin.