PHOTO: It was a banner night at the Canmore Recreation Centre on Monday night as the Eagles defeated the Camrose Kodiaks 5-3 to win their opening round playoff series Three Games to One.
MOVING ON!
The Canmore Eagles sent the Camrose Kodiaks to an early playoff hibernation as they erupted for four unanswered first-period goals and cruised to a 5-3 victory in Alberta Junior Hockey League playoff action Monday night at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
The victory, in front of a near sellout crowd of 629 vocal fans, propels the Eagles to the next round of the AJHL Southern Division playoffs as they eliminated the Kodiaks “Three Games to One” in the Best-Of-Five opening round series.
It marked the first time since 2010 that the Eagles have advanced to the second round of the AJHL playoffs and the first time ever that the Eagles have defeated the Kodiaks in a playoff series.
Canmore native Simon Philp was the hero of the night as the big forward scored three goals for his home-town team and was named the Eagle’s “Star of the Game”. Jordan Revie and Lane Olson had the other Eagle goals, while rookie netminder Ryan Ferguson stopped 24 of 27 Kodiak shots to pick up his third playoff victory.
“I am so proud of the entire team for the way they played throughout this series,” said Eagle’s Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “Everyone played their part and everyone contributed in their own special way. I don’t think any of us wanted to go back to Camrose to play Game Five and it showed as we came out fired up in the first period and really took it to them early on. Our home town fans also played a big role in this series as the place was packed and the atmosphere was electric.”
Although teams and dates have not been confirmed, the Eagles will open their upcoming “Best-of-Seven” Southern Division semi-final series on the road this weekend against either the Brooks Bandits or the Drumheller Dragons.
Canmore will have to wait until after Wednesday night’s deciding “Game Five” between the Okotoks Oilers and Olds Grizzlys to find out who their next opposition will be. If the home-town Oilers win, the Eagles will open in Brooks. If the Grizzlys pull the upset, Canmore will open in Drumheller.