Jordan Revie just might be the most naturally-gifted player with the Canmore Eagles this season.
For three years, he’s shown flashes of puck handling brilliance, but for one reason or another, hasn’t been able to consistently play his brand of hockey night in, night out, in the AJHL.
However, with 14 points in 11 games, including the first hat trick of his AJHL career on Saturday (Oct. 11) in a 5-3 win over the Fort McMurray Oil Barons, Revie looks as if he’s finally emerging into a dangerous top-10 scorer in the league.
He managed to score 20 goals and pick up 24 assists last year playing on the second line, and with eight goals in 11 games this year, he looks like a good bet to surpass those totals
“It seems like I’m on a good pace for 20,” said Revie, all smiles after his hat trick. “For me, it’s pretty big. It’s my last year. I want to put up as many as I can.”
Playing with Joe Serpico and Lane Olson, the line creates problems for opponents who can’t simply focus on shutting down Connor Wilson and Simon Philp. Along with Ryley Risling, the Eagles’ offence has been incredibly balanced, much to the relief of head coach and general manager Andrew Milne, and the power play went 3 for 4 against the Oil Barons.
“Revie is competing harder. He’s competing for loose pucks, getting engaged in the physicality, engaged in getting loose pucks and he’s getting rewarded. I said when Jordan was 18, that he was being plush, and said by the time he’s 20, he should be in the top 10 in scoring. He’s proving it out there,” Milne said.
Revie said two of his goals were lucky against Fort McMurray. The first trickled over the goaltender’s shoulder, while the second ended up on his stick after a fortuitous bounce after splitting the defence. His third came on a 5 on 3 powerplay, where he had a wide open net.
“Serpico and Olson are making it easy for me,” Revie said.
Brett Schimmel and Risling also scored for the Eagles, who have now defeated Fort McMurray twice this season. That’s a feat they haven’t accomplished since 2006-07, and it lessens the sting of dropping a 3-2 loss to the Brooks Bandits on Friday.
While Revie did most of the work in the second, goaltender Ryan Ferguson was dominant in the third. Against one of the top offences in the AJHL, he flat out refused to give up a goal, making several acrobatic saves to maintain a two-goal lead.
“When the highest offence in the league comes in, you know you need good goaltending. That’s what he does. He gives us a whole new level of confidence when you know Fergie is back there,” Milne said. “He was the big difference for us in the third.”
The Eagles are on the road this weekend with games against Drumheller and Olds, where they’ll try to stay above .500 and climb out of sixth spot in the Southern Division. They return home on Oct. 25 for a game against the Bonnyville Pontiacs.
