PHOTO: Eagle coaches Andrew Milne and Jeremy Reich are on the look-out for some more offensive production from their hockey club.
NEXT HOME GAME – Saturday, Oct. 12 – Calgary Mustangs – 7PM
Despite firing 39 shots on goal, the Canmore Eagles came out on the short end of a 2-1 score in last night’s Alberta Junior Hockey League game against the visiting Bonnyville Pontaics.
The loss dropped the Eagle’s early season record to 5-7.
Rookie Ryley Risling had the lone Eagle goal, his first-ever AJHL marker. Canmore goaltender Ryan Ferguson was once again solid in the net stopping 34 of the 36 Bonnyville shots he faced and was named the Eagles “Star of the Game.”
The Eagles came out buzzing in the opening period out-shooting the Pontiacs by a wide 16-5 margin but could only manage a slim 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes of play. Bonnyville had the only goal of the second period to tie the game at 1-1, and scored the go-ahead marker with just six minutes left to play in the third period.
“We obviously need to find a way to score more goals,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne, whose club has managed to score just eight goals in their past five games. “We played good enough to win, but our offence let us down. We had an excellent first period and should have been up by more than one goal but we didn’t convert on our opportunities and seemed to get frustrated as the game went on.”
Canmore will wrap up their current home stand with a key game Saturday night against the Calgary Mustangs. The Mustangs have played very well of late picking up a point in Brooks with 1-0 overtime loss last Saturday and scoring a tough 3-2 overtime victory in Olds on Tuesday.
The Eagles will conclude their busy Thanksgiving weekend with a road trip to Drumheller on Sunday for an afternoon game against the Dragons.
“It doesn’t get any easier, that’s for sure.” said Milne. “We have to forget about last night’s game and get ready for our two upcoming games against key Southern Division rivals. We have no time to feel sorry for ourselves.”
NOTEBOOK: Canmore native Jeremy Gordon played his 100th AJHL game last night. . . With no points last night, Eagles forward Connor Wilson saw his six-game point streak snapped . . .Eagle rookie goaltender Ryan Ferguson has now been named the Eagles “Star of the Game” on three occasions this season.