The Canmore Eagles will wrap up the 2015 portion of their Alberta Junior Hockey League schedule with a pair of home games this weekend against two Northern Divisions teams.
On Friday night (December 18), the home-town Eagles (17-12-2) will entertain the visiting Fort McMurray Oil Barons (6-26-6) before facing the Lloydminster Bobcats (24-7-2) on Saturday night (December 19). Both games start at 7 PM at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
While the Oil Barons have endured a disappointing season to date, they come to Canmore riding a two-game road winning streak and look to avenge an embarrassing 8-1 loss to the Eagles in Fort McMurray back on November 13.
On Saturday night, it will be the Eagles turn to look for some redemption, as they were shutout 5-0 by the Bobcats in a game played in Lloydminster back on October 17.
“We’ve lost three straight home games to Northern Division teams recently, so we certainly can’t afford to take anyone from the north lightly,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne, whose club has had the five days to prepare for their final home games of 2015. “I’m sure Fort McMurray is pretty upset with their performance against us the last time we met, so I know they will be very hungry to make amends. Lloydminster is a big team and they like to play a very physical game, so we’ll have to be prepared for a tough test on Saturday night as well.
“These are two very important games for us. We need to regain our momentum, earn some important points in the standings, and hopefully head into the Christmas break on a positive note.”
NOTEBOOK: Canmore is currently in a dogfight for third-place in the AJHL Southern Division standings with the Okotoks Oilers. The Eagles currently sit in fourth-place with 38 points, just two points behind the Oilers who have 40 points. The Eagles have played two less games than the Oilers. . . Canmore has scored a league leading 45 powerplay goals this year and the powerplay is operating at an efficiency rating of 25.86 %.
