Top of the heap
The Canmore Eagles grabbed first place overall in the Alberta Junior Hockey League with a pair of wins during a busy three-day weekend.
Canmore lost 4-2 to the Kodiaks in Camrose on Friday (Jan. 10), then posted a pair of 6-2 victories over the Bobcats in Lloydminster on Saturday (Jan. 11) and the Xtreme in Devon on Sunday (Jan. 12) to improve to 23-9-4-1 for 51 points.
Canmore’s newest player, forward Will Lutic made an auspicious beginning when he was in the penalty box for the first of four goals Camrose used to overturn a 2-0 deficit. The 2007-born forward from St. Albert more than made up for it the following two games, registering a goal and an assist in each of the wins.
With Lutic added to the lineup, the Eagles moved Brayden Schwartz to the Olds Grizzlys. The 2006-born rookie forward from Okotoks had one goal and two assists in 19 games with the Eagles.
Canmore’s hold on first overall in the league is precarious as the teams chasing all have games in hand. North Division leading Whitecourt Wolverines (23-8-2-2) with 50 points have two games to make up the difference. In the South Division, Calgary Canucks (22-10-2-2) are at 48 points with one game in hand while third-place Camrose Kodiaks (21-8-2-2) are at 46 points but have played four less games than the Eagles.
It’s Hockey Day in Canada week in Canmore, with the community the focus of national hockey interest from Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 15-18 culminating with the Eagles hosting the Drumheller Dragons (18-15-2-0 for 38 points) on Saturday, 7 p.m. at the Canmore Recreation Centre. A list of the planned activities and tickets are available at canmoreeagles.ca/tickets.
Eagles 2 at Kodiaks 4
Following a scoreless first period, Canmore took a 2-0 lead in the second period on a power-play goal by Ethan Look (13th goal of the season) and a penalty shot goal by Aidan Tkachuk (5).
Camrose would get on the scoreboard in the middle frame on a power-play goal by Bown Grycan (11) while Lutic served a double minor for slew footing. The Kodiaks then scored three goals in the third period to post its seventh consecutive victory. Goals came from AJ Schaaf (11), Garrett Thom (14) and Sam Lozinski (17).
Camrose outshot Canmore 31-22 with Alex Scheiwiller in goal for the Eagles and Wilson Maxfield for the Kodiaks.
On the power play, Canmore was 1-for-3 and Camrose went 1-for-7.
Eagles 6 at Bobcats 2
Six different players scored for Canmore as the team won for third time over Lloydminster this season.
Rawji (12) scored in the first period with the Eagles extending their lead to 5-0 in the second period on goals by Look (14), Lutic (1), Cohen Daoust (10) and Rhett Dekowny (15).
The Bobcats would score a pair of shorthanded goals – Caden Steinke (3) late in the second period and Kade Fendelt (12) early in the third period – before Eagles defenceman Casey Black (4) settled matters with an empty net goal.
Lloydminster outshot Canmore 45-38 with Scheiwiller in goal for the Eagles and Kaden Kirkwood in goal for the Bobcats. Kirkwood was spelled by newly acquired and game-day arrival Connor Graham (from the Niverville Nighthawks of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League) for the final 6½ minutes of the second period.
Canmore’s power play continued to shine going 2-for-5 while Lloydminster was 0-for-2.
The two teams will meet once more this season when the Bobcats are the visitors on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at the Banff Fenlands Recreation Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.
Eagles 6 at Xtreme 2
Dekowny would score twice and Bryson Insinger registered three assists in Canmore’s 23rd win of the season, putting the Eagles tops in the AJHL.
Xander Schulte (5) would give Devon the lead midway through the first period.
The Eagles then scored the next five goals. Dekowny (16) and Lutic (2) in the first period. Dekowny (17) and Rawji (13) in the second period. Josh Cleary (6) made it 5-1 midway the third period.
Brynn MacLean (3) would get one back for Devon before Look (15) scored into an empty net.
Canmore outshot Devon 35-33 with Hudson Sedo in goal for the Eagles and Preston Lewis in goal for the Xtreme.
There were just five minor penalties in the contest with Canmore going 1-for-2 on the power play and the Xtreme unable to make any of their three man-advantage situations count.
The notebook
Dekowny and Rawji continued their hot play on the weekend. They are both now on 36 points and moved into the top five in league scoring. Dekowny (17G-19A) had three goals and one assist in the two wins. Rawji (13G-23A) picked up two goals and two assists in the victories.
Unfortunately for linemate Owen Jones, his nine-game points streak came to an end in the loss to Camrose. Jones missed most of the Lloydminster game and all of Sunday’s tilt after taking a hard check on his lower back on Saturday. He is expected to be back in the lineup this coming weekend. At 34 points (15G-19A), the Canmore native is 10th in league scoring.
Insinger’s three-assist game is the most points he has put up in 66 AJHL games.
Look’s three-game scoring streak gives him 15 goals on the season. He also picked up his 14th assist to go to 29 points on the season, putting him just outside the league’s top 20.
Tkachuk’s penalty shot was the first for Canmore this season. His goal was the fifth in 18 attempts in the league this season.
Defenceman Christian Luke has been out of the lineup since Dec. 15 with no date set for his return.
Defenceman Casey Black continues his point-per-game pace picking up one goal and two assists in the weekend victories. He now has 14 points (4G-10A) in 14 games.
Sedo’s travails in goal finally came to an end, picking up his first win in five games – although he has only had two starts in December and January – after starting the season with seven consecutive wins. The rookie goaltender is now 8-3-1 with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.
With a win and a loss this past weekend, Scheiwiller is now 15-6-3 with a 2.41 GAA and a .920 S/Pct.
Canmore’s power play continues to soar and once last in the league has improved to fourth overall at 19.6 per cent (32 goals in 162 attempts).
The penalty kill is the league’s second best at 86.4 per cent (120-for-147).
EAGLES NEST: Canmore Eagles 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