Szabo inspired Eagles Fly past Canucks

Since being named captain of the Canmore Eagles, John Szabo has been inspiring his teammates with his leadership on the ice.

Szabo scored twice in the opening period on Thursday (Feb. 13) to lead his team to a 5-3 win over the Calgary Canucks at the Canmore Recreation Centre. The victory moved Canmore (25-17-1-1) back into first place in the Alberta Junior Hockey League South Division with 52 points.

Canmore was looking to right the ship after suffering a pair of losses to the Oil Barons in Fort McMurray on the weekend. The Eagles did salvage a single point with a 4-3 shootout loss on Sunday afternoon but that came after holding the lead three times during regulation time.

Szabo now has 10 points (5G-5A) over six games since being named captain in place of the injured Casey Black (shoulder). The former WHL’er, who joined the Eagles in his final year of junior eligibility, is the active league leader in consecutive games with a goal, with those five goals coming in the past four games and has an active six games points streak.

Aidan Tkachuk, coming off a January in which he was named AJHL player of the month, returned to the scoresheet – after being held off it in Fort McMurray – with a goal and an assist to improve to 57 points (23G-34A).

Cohen Daoust also dusted off the cobwebs after not getting on the scoresheet last weekend to register a goal and two assists to improve to a league fourth-best 62 points (25G-37A). Some recent league scoring updates and Thursday’s points total has the 19-year-old St. Albert native with 20 multi-point games in 39 played this season. He missed five games while playing for the WHL Calgary Hitmen from mid-November to mid-December.

Miller Kormarniski also scored for Canmore which took a 5-0 lead early in the second period.

Hudson Landmark, who centres a line with Daoust and Tkachuk, earned two assists.

Calgary responded with two goals by Adam M’Hamed and another by Conner Radke.

Szabo (17) opened the scoring just 89 seconds into the contest followed by Daoust (25) at 8:59. Szabo (18) would add his second on the power play at 16:10 followed by Komarniski (4) 38 seconds later.

That would be the end of the night for Calgary’s starting goaltender Noah Nelson (13-12/3.23/.903), who gave up four goals on 10 shots, replaced by Dimitri Fortin (0-5/3.87/.892), who faced 28 shots.

Tkachuk (23) made it 5-0 at 3:12 of the second period.

Canmore outshot Calgary 38-34, with Alex Scheiwiller (17-12/2.93/.919) in goal for the Eagles. He would be beaten for two goals in the second period – M’Hamed (8) and Radke (21) – and once in the third – M’Hamed (9) – as he became the first goaltender this season to face more than 1,000 shots. The 21-year-old Calgary native has made 943 saves on 1,026 shots faced – with his .919 save percentage the best in the league.

On the power play, Calgary was 1-for-3 and Canmore was 1-for-4 including a five-minute man advantage in the third period.

A scary few minutes early in the third period when Eagles affiliate player Sully Kufflik collided headfirst into the boards and had to be removed from the playing surface by stretcher. The younger brother of Eagles’ rookie defenceman Berkley Kufflick, Sulley was checked from behind by Calgary’s Grant Reid, who was assessed a match penalty, while trying to play the puck near the Canmore bench. Athletic therapists from both teams and eventually paramedics attended to the player with both teams dispatched to their dressing rooms during an approximately 20-minute delay.

Sully Kufflick, playing in just this second junior A game with the team sitting out four of nine registered defencemen due to injuries and illness, was taken to hospital by ambulance where he was evaluated and released with fortunately only a sore neck.

Canmore has 11 games remaining this season, including two more games on home ice this weekend, hosting a pair of North Division teams: fifth-place Bonnyville Pontiacs (21-20-2-0) on Saturday at 7 p.m. and the fourth-place Lloydminster Bobcats (25-13-2-2) on Sunday at 2 p.m.

The Camrose Kodiaks (25-17-2-0) are also on 52 points but trail Canmore in the South via regulation victories 25-19. The two teams appear to be separating themselves from the third-place Drumheller Dragons (21-18-2-4) at 48 points and fourth-place Calgary (19-20-2-1) at 41 points.

OVERTIME: This Sunday is the annual Skate With The Eagles event following their matinee game. Fans both young and old can share the ice, get up close and take pictures with their favourite players. … The Canmore Eagles are always in need of volunteers to help with game day experiences whether you are new to the game or an avid hockey supporter, email info@canmoreeagles.com for more information on opportunities and perks that come with being part of the Game Day Crew. … Can’t get to a game in person, you can follow the Canmore Eagles at home or on the road with a Flohockey account. Go to flohockey.tv.