Mopping up the MOB
The Canmore Eagles became the first team to reach double digits in wins in the Alberta Junior Hockey League this season.
Canmore improved to a league-best 10 wins, two regulation-time losses and an overtime defeat for 21 points after sweeping a road doubleheader against the Fort McMurray Oil Barons on Saturday (Oct. 19) and Sunday (Oct. 20).
It wasn’t easy for the Eagles as they were pushed up to the final buzzer by the MOB (5-7-1-0, fourth in the North Division) in both games.
Eagles 4 at Oil Barons 3
An empty net goal by Zach Coutu (his 7th goal of the season) proved the difference on Saturday.
The Oil Barons led 2-1 after the first period with Alex Beaulac (2) and Simon Gaul (3) sandwiching Eagle Ethan Look’s (5) goal. Rhett Dekowny (4) would tie the game with the lone second-period marker.
Kayden Rawji would give the Eagles a 3-2 lead at 16:48 of the third period, first corralling a pass from Zach Coutu in front of the goal, then swiveling his way past the Oil Barons’ goaltender and finishing with a backhander into the goal.
Fort McMurray would pull its netminder with just under two minutes to play and Zach Coutu would give the Eagles a two-goal lead at 18:24. Cade Peterson (1) scored at 19:11 as the Oil Barons at 19:11 had the Eagles scrambling in their own end right up to the final buzzer.
Canmore outshot Fort McMurray 32-29 with Alex Scheiwiller in goal for the Eagles and Vincent Filion between the pipes for the Oil Barons.
Eagles 3 at Oil Barons 2
Canmore skated out to a 3-0 lead with Fort McMurray grabbing back the momentum to keep the result in doubt right up to the final seconds of the game.
Canmore led 2-0 after first period goals by Christian Luke, his first junior A goal, and Dekowny (5), with his second in as many games.
Rawji (5) would be the game breaker for a second day with a power-play goal at 14:46 of the second period. The third-year Eagle from Edmonton pounced on a loose puck that the Oil Barons goaltender was unable to hold and had an open net to score what would prove the game winner.
Fort McMurray’s Griffin Gidney (2) did answer just nine seconds later, with Danny Akkouche (4) scoring in the third period but like the previous day, the hometown team was unable to find the equalizer despite plenty of puck possession in the Eagles’ zone over the final few minutes.
Fort McMurray outshot Canmore 31-28 with Hudson Sedo in goal for the Eagles. Noah Nelson started for the Oil Barons and was pulled after giving up two goals on six shots over 9:59 of game time. Filion would come in to finish the game.
The notebook
Zach Coutu leads the AJHL in scoring with 18 points (7G-11A) after recording one goal and four assists in the two games. The second-year Eagle and Edmonton native is on a nine-game points streak (5G-9A).
Dekowny is on a seven-game points streak (5G-3A) after goals in each game in Fort McMurray.
Sedo improved to six wins in six games this season, and the rookie leads all AJHL goaltenders with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .946 save-percentage.
Canmore’s power play was 3-for-8 against Fort McMurray and is now tied for fifth overall with the Grande Prairie Storm (9-1-1-1, 1st in the North) at 18.4% (9-for-49), while the Eagles’ penalty killing was 5-for-6 and is now fifth overall at 86.5% (45-for-52) this season.
The Eagles added Cole Wadsworth to the roster prior to the weekend’s games. The Penticton native has 90 Western Hockey League games (4G-8A) under his skates between the Spokane Chiefs and Kamloops Blazers. The 2006-born forward was held pointless in both games in Fort McMurray.
Canmore now takes an almost two-week break returning to action in Bonnyville ( 3-7-1-1, 5th in the North) on Friday, Nov. 1 and Saturday, Nov. 2, finishing up the road trip with a game against the Kodiaks (7-5-1-1, 4th in the South) in Camrose on Sunday, Nov. 3.
EAGLES NEST: Tickets for Canmore Eagles’ home games are available at canmoreeagles.ca/tickets. … You can watch all Eagles’ games as well as the rest of the AJHL online, along with much more live and on demand sports, through a FloSports subscription available at flohockey.tv.
Russ Ullyot
