Perhaps a little too much into the Halloween spirit, the Canmore Eagles played like zombies for much of their Oct. 30 4-3 AJHL overtime loss to the Olds Grizzlys, giving up the game with a mere 0.9 seconds on the clock.
With a stone cold first period and sleepy hollow second, punctuated only by goals from Braden Saretsky and Lane Olson, the Eagles appeared happy with their two goal lead in the third, when Braiden Doucette unleashed a bullet from the point.
However, the most dangerous lead in hockey worked its devilish magic, and the Grizzlys stormed back, led by Canmore native Tristan Thompson, who first assisted on the tying goal in the last second of the third period, and on Chase Olsen’s winner 3:26 into the extra frame.
After the loss, the Eagles’ frustration boiled over, and head coach and general manager Andrew Milne blasted his team for not taking the Grizzlys seriously, a team eight points behind the Eagles in the Southern Division.
“We got cocky. I told our group right before the game I want us to be confident, not cocky – and we were cocky. We didn’t start the game well, we took too many penalties and we didn’t play our game. We got caught watching too often. That’s a cocky loss for our hockey club,” Milne said.
He blasted the team’s leadership group for being unprepared against Olds after five days of rest, and said they have to work for every point this year.
“We’ve got to be smarter. We’re a good hockey club, but when we play like we think we’re good instead of earning our opportunities, we’re not just going to roll in and beat anybody,” Milne said. “Tonight we got caught up in it and didn’t deserve to win.”
After the game, he called out his best players to be better.
“There is nothing the coaching staff can do. I can go in there and rip them apart. We had all week to practice. That’s on leadership, right there.”
The message got through loud and clear to the Eagles, who proceeded to waltz into Okotoks and defeat the first-place Oilers, 5-2. Doucette had a goal and two assists to lead the club, and improved their record to 10-7-2. Kyle Pauls, Adamu Tanaka, Brett Schimmel and Coy Prevost all scored for the Eagles, while Ryan Bontorin got the win in goal.
“The team responded well after an average night in Canmore,” Milne said. “We had great momentum shifts from the Kurylo (Nolan), Ashton (Jake) and Wihak (Nicholas) line. They were awesome.”
He said the team’s hard work was rewarded against the top team, and complimented the power play, which has been clicking again.
“Our guys needed to realize that when we work hard and play a team game, we can be pretty good. Our game plan was executed very well tonight. Our power play set us up for success and our defence contributed to the game, both defensively and offensively,” Milne said.
Much of the offense has fallen to Matt Forchuck, who now has 26 points on the year – 19 in October, while Doucette is leading from the back end with six goals and 14 points. The team will get a boost over the coming weeks, as defender Griffin Mumby is expected to return next week, and Kurt Hildebrandt is two weeks away from returning from injury.
The Eagles are on the road this weekend, as they face off against the Drumheller Dragons on Saturday (Nov. 7). The team played the Calgary Canucks on Wednesday night, past the Outlook’s
