Milne reaches milestone

The Canmore Eagles celebrated its general manager and head coach Andrew Milne reaching the 1,000-game mark over 18 seasons this past weekend.

Milne was presented a silver stick for his long tenure before Saturday’s game (Feb. 28) at the Canmore Recreation Centre. Then his latest charges went on to post a 4-2 victory over the Drayton Valley Thunder to complete a weekend sweep after posting a 6-0 win over the Thunder on Friday (Feb. 27).

While there are no definitive coaching records, Milne’s tenure, which began in the 2008-09 season rivals that of former AJHL coaching legends Gord Thibodeau, Fran Gow and Don Phelps, the other known members of the 1,000 games coached club. All three stood behind the benches for more than 20 AJHL seasons.

A hard-nosed, rugged player Milne played for his hometown St. Albert Saints in the 1995-96 AJHL season – the same season the Eagles came into existence. He would register 247 penalty minutes in 27 games – and one assist – on a team that would win the AJHL championship. It earned the pugnacious forward a promotion to the WHL where he played for three teams – Spokane Chiefs, Medicine Hat Tigers and Swift Current Broncos – over three seasons. Following a 1999-2000 winter campaign with the Peterborough Pirates of the British National league, Milne would bring his competitive playing career to an end.

Milne would turn to coaching in 2000, taking on assistant coach roles first with the home town St.Albert Saints of the AJHL,  before joining the Swift Current (2000-01) and then with the Kamloops Blazers (2006-08) of the WHL.  In 2008, Canmore called Milne, who agreed to two or three seasons before moving on … so he thought in chasing a dream of one day coaching in the NHL.

In those early years in Canmore, Andrew and his wife Erin started a family which now includes three children – sons Easton and Sawyer and daughter Ellery – and then fell in love with the community and the team. The rest is now Canmore and junior hockey lore.

Easton Milne is now 17 years old and in his rookie season with the Eagles, continuing Andrew’s long tradition of putting players from Canmore and Banff – where the team plays two of its home games each season — into the community-owned team.

Milne has tasted the highs and lows of this game while coaching in Canmore, one of those never being able to finish first in the South Division of the AJHL. That may change this month. With its two wins on the weekend, the Eagles have a talon on the division title trophy which the team last won in the 2002-03 season.

Canmore (30-18-2-1) is on 63 points with four games remaining: Tuesday, March 3 versus the Grizzlys in Olds; Saturday, March 7 at the Drumheller Dragons; Tuesday, March 10 at home versus the Dragons; and Friday, March 13 at home against the Grizzlys.

Any combination of points – through wins, losses and overtime decisions – won by Canmore or lost by second-place Drumheller, totalling three will give the Eagles the South title.

Drumheller (25-19-2-4) is on 56 points with five games remaining, including two with Canmore. The Dragons are at the Devon Xtreme on Friday, March 6 and finish up the season with home games against the fourth-place Calgary Canucks (23-23-2-1 for 49 points) on Friday, March 13 and third-place Camrose Kodiaks (25-22-2-1 for 53 points) on Sunday, March 15.

Weekend highlights include John Szabo and Ryder Dembo extending their points scoring streaks. Szabo has points in 13 consecutive games (8G-16A) and now has 50 points (21G-29A). Dembo is on an 11-game heater (8G-7A) and has 19 points (10G-9A) in 16 games since joining the Eagles at the end of January.

Cohen Daoust reached 70 points (28G-42A) for the season, the most by an Eagle since the 2019-20 season when Alex Young led the team with 82 points (36G-46A). Connor Lyons was second in team scoring that same season with 77 points (31G-46A).

Aidan Tkachuk, who has goals in each of his last four games, now has 29 tallies the most by an Eagle since that 2019-20 season. His 68 points (29G-39A) gives the team two of the top five scorers in the AJHL.

Alex Scheiwiller recorded his second shutout of the season to lower his goals-against average to 2.97 with a league-leading .920 save percentage. He is the only goaltender to record more than 1,000 saves this campaign at 1,102 in 33 games. The last Eagle to record three shutouts in a season was Ryan Bontorin in 2016-17.

Defenceman Reid Larson and forward Gus Schill returned to the lineup this past weekend after each missed more than two months of hockey due to injuries. Canmore did not have Will Lutic, Evan Markel and Hudson Landmark available.

Scheiwiller (20-13/2.97/.920) made 32 saves and six different players handled the scoring for the Eagles.

Tkachuk (28) opened the scoring just 33 seconds into the contest.

Second period goals came from Szabo (21), Dembo (9) and Conor Watson (4).

Miller Komarniski (6) and Milne (10) scored in the third period.

The Eagles outshot the Thunder 42-32 with Keaden Clegg (7-22/4.08/.895) starting for the Thunder but being relieved after the sixth goal by Kellen Salter (eight saves) for the final 8:37 of the game.

On the power play, Canmore was 1-for-2 and Drayton Valley went 0-for-2.

Canmore finished up a series sweep of Drayton Valley, although the team had to rally from two goals down in the last of six meetings this season between the two clubs.

Nash Nicolay (3) gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the first period, with Avery Watson (10) extending the lead 2:16 into the second period.

Tkachuk (29) would put the Eagles on the board just 47 seconds later. Then Quinn Keeler scored his first junior A goal, a long, high wrist shot that tucked under the cross bar in his 75th game – although the last 19 are with Canmore – to tie the game through two periods of play.

Daoust (28) would give the Eagles the lead with a power-play goal 9:51 into the third period. Dembo (10) would add to the lead at 13:05.

Canmore outshot Drayton Valley 34-27. Hudson Sedo (10-8/3.04/.908) was in goal for the Eagles. Salter (1-6/3.65/.889) went the distance for the Thunder.

On the power play, Canmore was 1-for-3 and Drayton Valley went 0-for-1.  The Eagles have scored nine power-play goals in their past six games and lead the league with 60 power-play goals in 51 games.

OVERTIME:  Canmore reached 30 wins for consecutive campaigns with its victory on Saturday to go with 35 victories last season. The last time the franchise put back-to-back 30-wins seasons together was 2002-03 (43 wins) and 2003-04 (30 wins). … The Eagles are always in need of volunteers to help with game day experiences whether you are new to the game or an avid hockey supporter, email info@canmoreeagles.com for more information on opportunities and perks that come with being part of the Game Day Crew. … Can’t get to a game in person, you can follow the Canmore Eagles at home or on the road with a Flohockey account. Go to flohockey.tv.