The good news for the Canmore Eagles is the team’s red-hot offence has managed to score 14 goals in their first three AJHL games.
The bad news is they’ve let in 16 goals, which has left them with a 1-2 record following a 5-4 loss to the Olds Grizzlys on Wednesday (Sept. 10).
No one is more frustrated with the current situation than top goaltender Ryan Ferguson. The talented tender was a tower of confidence last season, single-handedly keeping the Eagles in several games last season.
But following Saturday’s 6-4 loss to Olds at home, Ferguson, visibly shaken, struggling to make eye contact and emotionally drained, put the blame squarely on his shoulders.
“The team is scoring a ton of goals and they’re blocking a lot of shots. I’m pretty much the only thing that’s going wrong with the team, honestly,” Ferguson said. “I don’t know what more I can ask from this team. We have over 700 man games of experience in junior hockey with this defensive corps. We’re averaging about five goals per game and both nights I play horrendous and make a game out of it. That’s pretty much it. The team is playing awesome and I have to dial it in.”
Ferguson has been his usual acrobatic self in all three games for the Eagles, playing on the edge and making several incredible saves, but his play hasn’t impressed head coach and general manager Andrew Milne.
“I had plenty of thought of pulling him, but early in the year he’s gotta battle back from that. He’s not getting out of that. He didn’t work hard enough,” Milne said.
Offensively, the Eagles are firing on all cylinders, as Jordan Revie, Connor Wilson and Ryan Risling have all cracked the league’s top 20 in scoring, even though the team has played two games less than its opposition. Milne is confident Ferguson can turn his game around,
“He battles so hard, he gets rattled and loses control. He lost his composure a little bit and he’s mad at himself because he let in soft goals,” Milne said. “Fergie is a warrior and he’s our guy. We won’t lose sight of that. He’s a professional and he’s going to get better.”
While he finds his game, Milne said the defence has to be better, take fewer stupid penalties and support their teammate as Ferguson has supported them.
Captain Wilson said work ethic must improve across the lineup.
“Olds is one of the hardest working teams in the league. We were 100 per cent prepared, but mentally we were not ready. We didn’t work hard enough,” Wilson said. “We have a veteran locker room, so we should have been more prepared. That starts with the basics. Up front, we were too cute with the puck. We need to get the puck low and work hard.
“Right now, we’re showing we are producing, but we’re not happy. We should convert on more of those chances. It’s the pressure we’re putting on ourselves.”
One group happy with the high flying offence is the fans. Although they weren’t gems in the coach’s eyes, supporters were able to see 20 goals in the first two home games of the season.
In the team’s 6-5 home opener win over the Whitecourt Wolverines, Sept. 12, Wilson led the charge with a three-point night.
The Wolverines took an early lead on the powerplay, but Risling, who looks poised for a massive year, got the Eagles on the board in the first, jamming home a loose puck at the side of the net. The Wolverines struck back on a rebound before Joe Serpico scored from the side of the net on a harmless-looking play to knot the game at two before the end of the second period.
In the third, the offence crushed all semblance of defensive play. Wilson and Nik Kosman scored on dazzling individual rushes, where the Whitecourt defence were nowhere to be found, to give the Eagles a two-goal lead.
Kyle Pauls was then awarded a penalty shot, which he buried with a goal scorer’s touch. That looked like the death knell for Whitecourt.
But the Wolverines proved tough to kill, and they scrapped back with three goals of their own. Thankfully for the Eagles, Jordan Revie executed an excellent give and go with Brett Schimmel before firing a wrister upstairs for the winner.
On Saturday (Sept. 13) night against Olds, the Eagles played a weak first period and relied on Ferguson to bail them out. Risling and Revie managed to score and give the Eagles a 2-0 lead at the end of the period.
Olds, though, worked hard in the second, scoring four unanswered goals of their own – including two powerplay markers. Wilson responded for the Eagles, but the Grizzlies scored a minute later to regain a two-goal lead. Logan Ferguson gave the Eagles life in the third period with the first AJHL goal of his career on a pretty cut to the net, but it wasn’t enough and the Eagles fell 6-4
In the rematch on Tuesday (Sept. 16), The Eagles outshot the Grizzlys 38-33, but still gave up a late goal to fall 5-4. Logan Ferguson, Revie, Risling and Lane Olson scored for the Eagles, while Ryan Ferguson took the loss.
The Eagles are at home again on Tuesday (Sept. 23) to face the Okotoks Oilers.
