With the playoffs looming, the Canmore Eagles took pleasure beating up upon two of the weaker AJHL teams this past week, but unfortunately in the air tight southern division, it isn’t getting them any headway in the standings.
After a 4-3 come from behind win over the Drayton Valley Thunder on Saturday (Jan. 11) at home and a 3-1 win over the Calgary Canucks on Tuesday (Jan. 14) on the road, the Eagles are still in fourth spot with 51 points, eight points back of the division leading Brooks Bandits.
As one of the hottest teams in the league, the Eagles didn’t make any roster moves at the trade deadline on Jan. 11, so management believes the current crop of players will carry them through to the playoffs.
Against Drayton Valley, for two periods of play, the Eagles were high on finesse, low on goals. They outshot their opposition, but only John Stevens was able to sneak one past the goal line, while the Thunder pumped three goals past Ryan Ferguson.
By the third period, the Eagles ditched the pretty play and took advantage of a few wild bounces. Luke Simpson scored on a scrum on the powerplay to cut the lead to one, Ryley Risling knocked in a bouncing puck to tie it up and Joe Serpico was the benefactor of a horrendous giveaway to score the winner.
“I’m glad we were able to pull the character side of that win out,” said head coach Andrew Milne. “We needed to gut one out and get some confidence back and some grit and determination back. That’s the type of team we are. We had our chances in the second period, but we tried to pass the puck in the net. They beared down in the third and the guys deserved the win.”
Milne isn’t happy with defensive play of late and said the back end has to be better. Too many players are trying to play like Trey Phillips, Milne said, which gets them into trouble.
“The defence had their moments, but they have to play better.”
Against the Canucks on Tuesday, the Eagles jumped out to an early two goal lead thanks to Simon Philp and Bryan Arneson. The Canucks’ Mitch Amatto responded with a goal of his own, but the Canucks couldn’t break Ferguson for the rest of the game.
Philp added an empty net goal in the third to seal the win. The bout was a makeup game after December snowstorms cancelled the club’s last meeting.
The Eagles are on the road for the next two games, as they play Olds on Friday (Jan. 17) and the Calgary Mustangs on Jan. 22 before returning home for two tough games against the Drumheller Dragons (Jan. 24) and Sherwood Park Crusaders (Jan. 25).
From there, the playoffs are just five weeks away.
