PHOTO: The Canmore Eagles will try to snap a five-game losing streak to the Camrose Kodiaks when the Kodiaks pay a visit to Canmore on Friday night. (Julie Wilson file photo)
UPCOMING HOME GAMES:
Brooks Bandits – Saturday, Feb. 21 – 7 PM
Friday, Feb 20th Result – Camrose 7, Canmore 1
Now that the Canmore Eagles have officially secured a spot in this year’s Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs, their main goal during their last four regular season games is to put some wins together in an effort to catch the Olds Grizzlys for fifth-spot in the Southern Division standings.
The sixth-place Eagles (25-29-2) currently trail the fifth-place Grizzlys (23-23-9) by three points in the standings, with the Grizzlys having five games remaining on their schedule.
The Grizzlys and Eagles will meet one more time this season on Friday, February 27 at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
If the Eagles are to be successful in their quest to overtake Olds in the standings, they will have to earn it the hard way as they will host two of the AJHL’s elite teams this weekend with the first-place Camrose Kodiaks (44-8-3) coming to Canmore for a game on Friday (Feb. 20) and the second-place Brooks Bandits (39-13-4) following up on Saturday (Feb. 21). Both games will start at 7 PM.
Camrose is currently ranked as the #3 Junior A team in the nation, while the Bandits are ranked at #15.
In their five games against Camrose this season, the Eagles are winless losing by scores of 7-4 and 5-2 in Canmore, and by scores of 9-1, 7-2 and 2-0 in Camrose. In their five games against the Brooks this season, the Eagles are also winless losing 5-4, 7-5, 5-2 in Brooks, and by scores of 3-2 and 7-2 in Canmore.
“Obviously we’ve had our struggles against both of these teams this year, but we look forward to the challenge of playing them again in our own barn,” said Eagle’s Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “We have a lot to prove against these two teams and this weekend’s games will provide us with a good measuring stick as we prepare for the playoffs. Our regular season hasn’t gone as well as we had hoped, but the playoffs are a new season and anything can happen. Our immediate goal is try to move up the standings and in order for us to do that, we need to win these games. We’re going to treat these weekend games as a playoff primer.”
NOTEBOOK: Friday’s game against Camrose is being sponsored by Pizza Hut and the first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free Pizza Hut t-shirt. . . Eagle playoff tickets are now on sale and can be ordered by contacting marketing@canmoreeagles.com . . . Friday and Saturday’s game will also feature the semi-finals in this year’s Can-Bow Motors Las Vegas shootout. We have 10 shooters who qualified this year for the opportunity to win a “Trip for Two” to Las Vegas. The top three goal scorers from the semi-finals competitions will advance to the final competition which will be held during the Eagle’s final regular season game on Friday, Feb. 27.
