Saving Scheiwiller

It might go a long way to saying what kind of team the Canmore Eagles have put together this season when after a 7-0 thrashing of the Drayton Valley Thunder the team choose to swarm goaltender Alex Scheiwiller.

The players had plenty to celebrate, getting just that little bit closer to finishing the best team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, scoring seven goals on a team that had their number this season with the Eagles having only one win in the previous four meetings, a first hat trick by Bryson Insinger, and the season debut of a valued hero from season’s past, blue liner Emmanuel Hudson, but it was towards their goaltender that the players burst into a championship worthy celebration.

When the buzzer sounded to end this Friday night clash at the Canmore Recreation Centre the players bounded off the bench, across the ice, bounced up and down and battered their goaltender with celebratory pats and hugs, and there might have even been a tear or two shed. This result was a long season in coming for Scheiwiller, a 27-save performance that finally earned him his first shutout of the season.

Watching it, one could see that the brotherhood among this group of young athletes is strong and maybe quite special as they skate towards the finish line of quite possibly a historic season.

That the shutout took so long in coming for the 19-year-old goaltender, his 33rd appearance of the season, might be perplexing for some when you look at the numbers. Canmore is the No. 1, with the league’s second best defensive record, while Scheiwiller’s statistical line is worthy of him being defined as among the AJHL’s top netminders at 22-11 (with five of those losses coming in overtime and a shootout) along with a 2.31 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.

The goaltending award will certainly pass Scheiwiller over in favour of Whitecourt Wolverines netminder Zac Onyskiw topping all the important categories at 23-11 (four losses coming in overtime and shootouts), 1.91 goals-against average, a .938 save percentage. The Edmonton native also has three shutouts, it was the one thing that had eluded Scheiwiller, who is from Calgary, until Friday night.

Numbers one and two in the league this season, they share something in common.

The two goaltenders were traded for each other at the Jan. 10, 2024 deadline with Scheiwiller moving to Spruce Grove and Onyskiw going the other way to the Brooks Bandits. Scheiwiller was a member of three clubs that day as he started the season with the Okotoks Oilers before Brooks acquired him on Jan. 10 and then promptly moved his rights to Spruce Grove. Of course none of those three teams are now members of the AJHL. Shortly after the trade they were part of five-team group – that also included the Blackfalds Bulldogs and Sherwood Park Crusaders – expelled from the AJHL after it was made public they had agreed to join the non-sanctioned B.C. Hockey League.

Both goaltenders are now back in the AJHL and they have made the league that much better and entertaining as they try to carry their teams to division titles. Whitecourt leads the North Division. The goal for both is of course to get to the Centennial Cup – the national championship for Canadian junior A hockey – and that road could pit these two goaltenders against each other in the AJHL championship final in mid-April. The goaltenders squared off twice this season, with Onyskiw winning both times, although the teams split the season series each winning two games.

Scheiwiller came to the Canmore Eagles at the start of this season after shunning a return to the Spruce Grove. He came in as the expected No. 1 but found he had to share the duties when rookie Hudson Sedo took the league by storm in the early going. Scheiwiller made just 11 starts in the first 20 games, going 4-7, with a 3.34 goals-against average and .901 save percentage.

Meanwhile, Sedo began this season with a shutout victory and seven consecutive wins. His successes earned the 18-year-old a call up to the Western Hockey League’s Prince Albert Raiders in November and a spot on the Canada West roster for the World Junior A Hockey Challenge in December. Sedo also was unavailable for Friday’s contest, having been sent home last week to recover from early onset pneumonia.

Scheiwiller found himself thrust into carrying solo the burden of the team’s successes with Sedo’s absences and has been up to the challenge. Since Nov. 22, 2024, the goaltender has started 22 of 28 games, winning 17 times, with a 1.86 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage. He was unavailable for three games in early February through an emergency call up role to the WHL Kamloops Blazers, where he made two appearances.

With Friday’s shutout victory, Canmore has gone 18 consecutive home games without losing in regulation time – two overtime defeats mar the near perfect run – and improved the team’s overall record to a league topping 34-11-5-1 for 74 points.

Insinger doubled his season goal output to six with his hat trick performance, scoring the opening two goals and capping off the night with his third. Between Insinger’s heroics, Cohen Daoust scored twice to get to 19 goals on the season, with Rhett Dekowny’s 27th goal and Owen Jones’s 21st completing the offence. Tavynn Schlatt assisted on each of Insinger’s goals. Ethan Look also finished with three assists. Hudson, a freshman at the University of Lethbridge, picked up an assist in his season debut, while injecting three seasons and 168 games of AJHL experience into the Eagles’ lineup.

Canmore fired 33 shots on Drayton Valley’s 17-year-old netminder Hudson Perry, who already has 21 WHL games with the Edmonton Oil Kings engrained on his pads. The Eagles led 3-0 after the first period and 5-0 at the second break.

On the power play, Canmore was 1-for-3, with Jones scoring the goal, while Drayton Valley was 0-for-3.

Canmore’s next game is its final regular season home game, hosting the Camrose Kodiaks on Friday, March 7. The Eagles then head to Drayton Valley the following day, Saturday, March 8, winding up the season in Olds against the Grizzlys on Friday, March 14.

Canmore’s line to first place in the South Division and the league’s best record is all in their hands now as the team also holds all the tie breakers, so it’s win out and top the loop this season. The franchise last bested the AJHL in the 2001-02 season, in a 64-game schedule, going 43-19-2 for 97 points. It was followed up with an 88-point performance the following campaign which was the last time the team topped the South Division.

If Canmore does not win all of its final three games, here are some other numbers to watch out for in the quest for top spot in the division and the league.

Versus Calgary (34-12-2-2 for 72 points) – the Eagles need six points won and/or points lost by the Canucks, who have four games remaining. Calgary hosts Camrose on Saturday, March 8, Olds Grizzlys on Sunday, March 9, travels to Drumheller to take on the Dragons on Friday, March 14 and finish up on home ice against Olds on Saturday, March 15.

Versus Whitecourt (32-12-2-3 for 69 points) – the Eagles need five points won and/or points lost by the Wolverines, who have five games remaining, as part of the race to No. 1 overall. The Wolverines next three games are all on the road, versus Bonnyville Pontiacs on Tuesday, March 4, Lloydminster Bobcats on Wednesday, March 5 and Devon Xtreme on Saturday, March 8. The Wolverines then finish up at home against Drayton Valley on Friday, March 14 and Camrose on Saturday, March 15.

Drayton Valley’s loss on Friday eliminated the Thunder (21-22-4-3) from playoff contention giving the Drumheller (30-18-3-0 for 63 points) the fourth spot in the South Division. The Dragons, with three games remaining, have aspirations of catching third-place Camrose (29-14-2-5 for 65 points).

In the North, Whitecourt, Grande Prairie Storm (27-15-1-6) and Lloydminster (27-19-1-3) have wrapped up three of the four positions. The Fort McMurray Oil Barons (21-24-3-1) hold the fourth spot, six points up on Bonnyville (18-27-1-3), with each team having five games remaining.

Grande Prairie could mathematically catch Whitecourt for first in the North, but the Wolverines need just two points to clinch the division banner.

Olds (15-34-1-0 for 31 points) and Devon (11-35-2-2 for 26 points) will finish the season bottom of the South and North divisions, respectively. Both teams have four games remaining and can still play a part in deciding the final positioning among playoff teams. The Grizzlys impacted the late-season push by defeating Camrose 1-0 on Saturday, with a 56-save shutout performance by Ben Dardis, who also nearly scored a goal in the final minute when his 180-foot clearance towards an empty net ticked wide right off the goal post.

Jones moved ahead of his linemate Dekowny to third in league scoring, with his one goal and one assist performance on Friday. The Canmore native now has 60 points (21G-39A). The 39 helpers top the league. The three-year veteran is also on a 15 home games, points streak (11G-22A) and a nine home games streak for assists (16). Even more numbers to impress statistical junkies, Jones leads the league with 23 power-play points including a league-topping 17 assists.

Dekowny’s goal gives him 59 points (27G-32A). He is also on a current eight-game, goal-scoring streak (8G), 16-game points streak (13G-14A), has a 15-game home points streak (13G-13A) and a seven-game, road-points streak (6G-7A).

Kayden Rawji, the usual left winger to complement Dekowny and Jones, was absent again on Friday and has missed five of the last six games trying to recover from a lower body injury. He is third in team scoring with 47 points (18G-29A) in 44 games played. The third-year forward will be evaluated this week to gain a clearer picture of when he might be able to return to the lineup.

Daoust’s two-goal performance gives him 23 points (9G-14A) over his past 11 games, and he now has 39 points (19G-20A) for the season.

Lutic continued his point-per-game pace since joining the Eagles on Jan. 10. The rookie forward picked up one assist in this week’s victory and now has 19 points in 16 games (7G-12A).

Hudson’s availability with the Eagles will be impacted by his university commitments until April 11, making him fully available for any fifth through seventh games of the second round of the playoffs.

Rookie forward Cole Wadsworth is still home recouping from a second shoulder injury that has limited his play 14 games this season. The Penticton, B.C. native is hopeful of returning to the Eagles to help in their playoff run.

Canmore’s 193 goals scored is second to the Calgary Canucks 222 goals, while the 128 goals allowed is second to Whitecourt’s 115 allowed.

Canmore’s power play is the best in the league, operating at 22.8 per cent overall, with a league-leading 58 goals on a league-topping 254 opportunities.

The Eagles’ penalty killing is third best at 84.3 per cent, giving up 31 goals while shorthanded 197 times.

Friday’s attendance was 889 bringing Canmore’s average to 752 fans per game this season. The Eagles’ franchise can claim to sellout every game at the CRC this season based on average occupancy, with the fourth best average attendance in the league behind the much larger venues of Grande Prairie (1,555 average per game), Fort McMurray (1,102) and Lloydminster (900). All four teams hosted games on Friday with 5,058 fan in attendance.

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