Just call them the Canmore Broken Eagles.
Although the AJHL team split its weekend games with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Calgary Mustangs Saturday (Oct. 12) and a 5-4 loss against the Drumheller Dragons on Sunday (Oct. 13), they managed to lose three more key players to injury.
Leading goal scorer Luke Simpson (eight goals), defenceman Trey Phillips (10 points) and leading agitator Bryan Arneson all went down with injuries over the weekend. They join captain Nils Moser, Lane Olson and defenceman Jakob Lavoie on the injured list.
Simpson suffered a dislocated elbow against the Mustangs, while Phillips left the game on Sunday with an undisclosed injury.
The injuries come prior to four straight away games – with the Eagles on the road against Drayton Valley on Friday (Oct. 18), Grande Prairie (Oct. 19), Whitecourt (Oct. 20) and Okotoks (Oct. 25) before hosting the Brooks Bandits, Oct. 26 at Alex Kaleta Arena.
Head coach Andrew Milne said his second and third line players will be thrust into bigger roles to fill Simpson’s loss. Jordan Revie and rookie Brett Radford were the immediate ice time beneficiaries against Drumheller and responded well. Radford scored his first AJHL goal to win the game in overtime, while Revie scored his third and fourth goals on Sunday. On defence, John Stevens has seen his play improve and will likely grab some of Phillips’ ice time, as will Nik Kosman.
“We’re going to have to do it by committee. Radford has some goals in him and some other guys will get a chance. We know Luke has a pretty substantial injury and we’ll just have to do it by committee,” Milne said. “We’ve got guys who can step up. Luke is a big part of our club, but they played well in his absence.”
On Saturday, Cam Barnes returned to the Eagles’ net and was nearly flawless in his play. With his team down by two goals in the second period, he fought hard to close the door before Arneson scored on a penalty shot and Simon Philp scored in the third to force overtime. Radford scored the winning goal in the extra frame.
“It feels good. I’ve been trying a long time to get one,” Radford said. “We lost two big guys on our team and everyone found a way to step up.”
Milne also heaped praise on Barnes, who was clearly one of the best Eagles on the ice on Saturday, even though he let in a soft second goal. Milne said he was the team’s best penalty killer and he hopes Barnes and Ferguson will push each other all year long.
“A positive with the Canmore Eagles right now is that we have two very good goaltenders,” Milne said.
They’ve needed better goaltending, as the Eagles have played several tight games, where goals have been few and far between. Without their two top offensive talents, that pressure will only increase.
“Overall, we’re committed to playing better team defence. Our goaltending has been good, our penalty kill has been outstanding, we’re committed to blocking shots,” Milne said.
He’s getting a better effort from his veterans as well.
“Johnny Stevens has competed for us and made sure nothing got through the net,” Milne said.
After hosting Brooks on Oct. 26, the Eagles welcome the Okotoks Oilers, Oct. 29.
