Mired in a four-game losing streak in a dark December chill, Canmore Eagles goaltender Ryan Bontorin had to face a psychological demon.
The Olds Grizzlys had cut the young goaltender in a fall training camp, delivering a blow to his hockey aspirations. After a season with the Lower Austria Stars U20 team last year, he needed to catch on with an AJHL team to keep his career alive, and the Grizzlys sent him packing.
On Saturday night, Bontorin would not only have to stop the Eagles’ losing streak, but prove to his former club they made a great mistake.
And boy did he do that.
Bontorin stopped 41 of 43 shots as he carried the Eagles to a 4-2 win Saturday (Dec. 12) at Alex Kaleta Arena.
“It’s definitely nice beating those guys,” Bontorin said after the game. He improved his record to 9-7-2 with the win and lowered his goals against average to 3.40. Kurtis Chapman, the goalie Olds chose to keep, was chased from the game in the first period.
Olds did its best to make life difficult for Bontorin, who was bumped and screened at every opportunity. But he complimented his defence for helping him see pucks and box out the big forwards.
“He was cut by these guys at the beginning of the year, so he had some internal motivation there,” said coach Andrew Milne. “He was solid tonight and he was the reason we were able to win this game. He made the big saves he needed to make.”
The Eagles appeared to have sealed the game up in the first period, as they exploded for three goals in a five-minute span, as power forward Brett Radford scored two powerplay goals and Kyle Pauls picked up a single. The outburst chased Chapman, and the Olds coach blew a gasket and was tossed from the game.
The Grizzlys were able to regroup in the second, and gave the Eagles fits. The home team sent a steady stream of players to the penalty box, and Olds struck twice to draw within one. The Eagles’ Bontorin, though, was outstanding in the period and the damage would have been much worse if he hadn’t been on his game.
In the third period, Braden Saretsky broke through with a laser from the faceoff circle to restore the Eagles’ two-goal lead. The goal broke the Grizzlys, as they fizzled in the third under Canmore’s suffocating defensive game.
Milne said the team needed a hard fought win to break the losing streak, especially after a 3-2 overtime loss Friday against the lowly Calgary Canucks.
“Special teams gave us a chance to win the game early,” Milne said. “I’m happy for the guys. We haven’t been in the best mindset here. We needed a win and it wasn’t an easy one. It’s one we had to work for.”
The team didn’t play its smartest game of the year, Milne conceded, as they let the Grizzlys back in the game.
“We took some stupid penalties. We need to do better than that. We watched the refs in the first period and knew they were going to call that. We need to be smarter than that. We’re a team that’s fragile right now and our intelligence wasn’t great. But at the end of the day we won the game.”
Logan Ferguson had two assists in the win. He said he also had some motivation after getting cut from Team Canada West.
“I thought it was a really good bounce back win,” Ferguson said. “Saretsky’s goal gave us a lot of confidence in the third. Good on him for burying it. It gave us insurance and confidence to play our game.”
The Eagles hit home ice again on Friday and Saturday (Dec. 18-19) as they face off against Fort McMurray and Lloydminster before taking a two-week Christmas break. Milne said the team wants to build confidence moving forward, especially with the offence.
“We need to get in a groove again. We need to play a confident game. When our forwards aren’t backchecking and our defence isn’t getting set up, our offence isn’t there,” Milne said.
