Seventeen-year-old defenceman Adamu Tanaka takes a feed from Matt Forchuk at the red line and turns on the jets in the first period of the Eagle’s Friday night AJHL match against the Brooks Bandits.
The Bandits’ defence retreats in the face of the attack, as Eagles forwards crash and bang their way toward the net. Tanaka skates through a gaping hole into the slot and hesitates before unleashing his deadly wrist shot. The crowd screams for a shot, but nothing comes. Just as it appears as if Tanaka has wasted a scoring opportunity, the screen he’s been waiting for appears, and the rookie unleashes a laser. Eagles 1- Bandits 0.
The last time the Canmore Eagles played a home and home series against the Brooks Bandits, they were outscored 17-4. The losses were so traumatic, it convinced one Eagles goaltender to quit hockey, and it sent team brass on an expansive hunt to improve the team.
This past weekend, Tanaka and the Eagles found redemption against Brooks, beginning with a 3-2 overtime win in Canmore on Friday (Oct. 23).
A statement game, a measuring stick, a gut check. Whatever tired hockey cliché is drawn out, the verdict is the same: the 2016 Eagles are a good team and afraid of no one in the AJHL’s southern division.
“We needed to have some character tonight and those guys stepped up,” said head coach and general manager Andrew Milne, who praised a defensive corps that was missing veterans Braiden Doucette, Griffin Mumby and captain Jakob Lavoie.
The Bow Valley defensive corps came to the rescue, as homegrown talent Tanaka, the ever-improving Jonas Gordan and Cochrane’s own Cole Noble played big minutes in their absence. All three made the most of the opportunity, and Milne heaped praise on all three, describing their play as “awesome.”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried with five defencemen playing against Brooks. Young defencemen need an opportunity. Unfortunately, they got theirs because of injury, but they got it and they relished it,” Milne said.
“We were embarrassed (the last time we played Brooks). We talked a lot about it this week. Effort is the most important thing. We were a different team than when we played them the first time, and that was evident (Friday).”
Coy Prevost got to play hero in overtime, as he scored on the first shot of the extra period off a nifty feed from Lane Olson. Milne said Prevost is being rewarded for his tireless work on the ice.
“Olson went down the wing, chucked me a pass wide open in the slot on the 4 on 3 and I shot on the far side. I actually thought I missed. I got a lucky one there,” Prevost said.
“Coy just gets rewarded for effort. He just doesn’t quit. We call him the hound. He just hounds the puck. He’s relentless on the puck,” Milne said. “He commits to working his ass off every time he steps on the ice, and he gets rewarded. As a coach, it’s awesome to see that work ethic and the reward, because the other athletes will follow. Coy isn’t wearing a letter, but he’s leading the guys.”
Adam Tisdale pounced on a loose puck to score late in the second period, and goaltender Ryan Bontorin was incredibly strong facing an unrelenting onslaught, especially in the third period. Both of Brooks’ goals came off mad scrambles in front of the Eagles’ net.
“Our goaltender was what I was impressed with tonight. He’s been so solid since he showed up. He’s calm in the net. When you’ve got something to prove, it motivates you, and he’s (Bontorin) got something to prove,” Milne said.
The Eagles dropped the second half of the home and home series 4-2. Brett Radford and Nolan Kurylo scored for the Eagles.
The Eagles are at home on Friday (Oct. 30) against the Olds Grizzlys, and fans are encouraged to dress in their Halloween costumes. They are currently one point behind the Bandits in the AJHL southern division.
