Eagles Split Games 1 & 2

The Canmore Eagles learned they cannot rest on their laurels when it comes to success on home ice in the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs after going one win and one loss against the Drumheller Dragons this past weekend.

The No. 2 seed in the South Division, Canmore hosted No. 3 Drumheller at the Canmore Recreation Centre on Friday (March 21) and Saturday (March 22).

Canmore came into the divisional semifinal series with 16 regulation time victories in their last 19 home games, the only losses coming in overtime and one of those in a shootout. The Eagles also had beaten the Dragons in all three contests played on that same ice this past regular season.

All impressive, until Friday night. Drumheller opened the best-of-seven series with an 11-2 hammering of Canmore.

After being upended dramatically in that first game, Canmore players righted themselves the following night and posted a 5-2 win to even the series at one win apiece.

The series now switches to Drumheller for the next two games: Tuesday, March 25 and Wednesday, March 26. Game 5 will be played on Friday, March 28 in Canmore. If necessary, Game 6 will be in Drumheller on Sunday, March 30 and Game 7 in Canmore on Tuesday, April 1. Game times are 7 p.m., with the exception of the March 30 clash which will start at 2 p.m.

Drumheller scored six unanswered goals in the second period to blow out this contest.

It was knotted at 1-1 after the first period. Canmore native Will McLaughlin gave the Dragons the lead 12:20. Cole Wadsworth, playing just his second game since Jan. 24, would tie the game for the Eagles at 14:12.

Drumheller then poured in the goals in the second period as five different players put the puck in the net, including two power-play goals and a shorthanded marker. Finding the net were Logan Peskett, with two goals, Allen Sherpa, Ayden Peters, Ellis Mieyette and Tristan Payne. The last of those goals came at 17:12 and ended the night for Canmore goaltender Alex Scheiwiller, who finished with 10 saves on 17 shots.

Drumheller scored four more goals in the third period on 18 shots on Hudson Sedo. Goals came from Bradley Gallo, Nick McLennan, Payne, with his second, while Peskett wrapped up the scoring at 12:13 of the period to complete a hat trick performance. Canmore captain Rhett Dekowny, who assisted on Wadsworth’s goal, scored for the Eagles just 15 seconds after the visitors had taken a 9-1 lead.

For the Dragons, in addition to Peskett’s three-goal performance, Payne finished with two goals and two assists, with Easton Daneault and Brec Christenson each picking up three assists.

Drumheller outshot Canmore 37-27 with Sean Cootes in goal for the Dragons.

On the power play, Drumheller was 2-for-7 while Canmore was 0-for-7.

In Game 2, it was Canmore chasing Drumheller’s goaltender.

Owen Jones scored twice in the first period, both on goal line shots, one from near the right wing corner and the second from near the left wing corner. Both shots bounced in off the goaltender. The goals would give the Eagles a 2-0 lead by 7:40 of the opening period. Aidan Tkachuk made it 3-0 at 14:59.

Then 23 seconds into the second period, Dekowny would make it 4-0 for Canmore spelling the end of the night for Cootes, who made eight saves on 12 shots. Jones earned an assist on the goal and finished the game with three points.

At the other end of the ice, Scheiwiller was back in goal for the Eagles and looked his usual self which led to him being shortlisted for the league’s top goaltender and most valuable player awards.

Hudson Gainer would score for Drumheller at 5:39 of the second period.

In the third period, Jaren Brinson, who scored just once in 34 regular-season games – missing two months (November and December) and 20 games through injury – opened his post-season account with his team’s fifth goal. After collecting a pass from Dekowny off the left-wing boards, the big defenceman would turn and skate unmolested back out to the blue line and then into the slot area before wiring a shot just under the cross bar over the right shoulder of Matthew Kondro, who replaced Cootes in the Drumheller goal.

McLaughlin would score his second goal of the series and Drumheller’s second in this game to complete the scoring at 14:18.

Drumheller outshot Canmore 34-31.

On the power play, Canmore went 0-for-4 and Drumheller 0-for-5.

The Calgary Canucks, the No. 1 overall seed, have taken a 2-0 lead on the No. 4 Camrose Kodiaks in the other South Division semifinal. The Canucks posted home-ice wins of 4-2 on Friday and 9-4 on Saturday.

In the North Division, the No. 1 Whitecourt Wolverines have found themselves in a battle with the No. 4 Fort McMurray Oil Barons. The two teams each have one win with the Wolverines, who tied the Canucks for the overall league title but had to settle for being second best via a fourth factor tie-breaker, won 3-2 and lost 3-2.

In the other North semifinal, No. 2 Grande Prairie Storm hold a 2-0 lead on the No. 3 Lloydminster Bobcats with a pair of decisive home-ice victories: 7-3 followed by 8-2.

All series follow the same schedule with games Tuesday and Wednesday at the lower seeds.

Canmore won one of three games played during the regular season in Drumheller: a 4-3 win on Feb. 15. Canmore’s record on the road during the regular season was 15-8-3-1 while Drumheller’s home record was 19-7-1-0.

Dekowny had one goal and one assist in each game and four points ties him for tops in the playoff scoring, albeit with 11 other players including Drumheller’s Payne.

Canmore’s power play, which led the AJHL with 61 goals over the course of the regular season, is 0-for-11 in the playoffs while the penalty killing is 10-for-12.

This is the seventh playoff series between these two teams since the Eagles joined the league in 1995-96 with each team having won three of the previous six played. The first series was in 2006 and won by the Eagles. The most recent was in 2023 and won by the Dragons.

EAGLES NEST: Canmore Eagles’ home playoff tickets are available at canmoreeagles.ca/tickets. … If you can’t attend in person, you can watch Eagles’ games as well as the rest of the AJHL online, along with much more live and on demand hockey, through a FloSports subscription available at flohockey.tv.

Russ Ullyot