Two young players lift St. Albert Raiders Eagles to new heights

Two young players with the St. Albert Raiders Eagles are sitting at the top of the charts in their first year in the U13 AAA division, as their team sits firmly atop the league standings.

Brody Meunier and Cash MacMillan are currently sitting at No. 2 and No. 4 in points respectively. Meunier has an impressive 101 points, scoring at 3.37 points per game. MacMillan is not far behind, with 62 points on the season and 2.07 points per game. They have both played 30 games this season for the Eagles.

This is only their first year in the U13 AAA division, and St. Albert Minor Hockey Association executive director Jane Sedo said they are the only two first-year players in the top 10.

Although Eagles head coach and Cash's father Derek MacMillan said they don't often find themselves on the same team, the two have been friends for a number of years.

"We've been friends since U9, then we made Brick and we kind of got closer," Cash MacMillan said in an interview on Feb. 22. The Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament showcases talented players across North America who are age nine or 10. Meunier and MacMillan were part of Team Brick Alberta's 2022-23 invitational roster.

Meunier and MacMillan were excited by their points performance, but also praised their teammates.

"Me and Cash have always had good chemistry, and I thought Derek put such a good team together this year," Meunier said. "Every practice, every game, we just get better."

"It feels pretty good, us two first-years getting to play on the same team," Cash MacMillan said. "And then racking up the points."

Although they're both first-year players in U13, they said they didn't have too hard a time adjusting, thanks to some previous experience being the underaged and undersized kids in a division.

"Last year was pretty hard to adjust, just with big bodies," MacMillan said. "Almost little humans just rolling around on the ice."

For Derek MacMillan, seeing his group and son develop and be competitive and successful has been something special.

"It's pretty special to be able to coach a really good group of players, but then also to have your kid be one of them," said Derek MacMillan. "I think these kids are really good role models and my kid being the first year, he looks up to them." 

The Eagles sit first in the league with 58 points, with their only league loss coming Jan. 24 at the hands of the Fort McMurray Bouchier Jr. Oil Barons.  

The team was also at the Peewee Quebec Tournament from Feb. 12-23. Unfortunately they were eliminated from the competitive games on Feb.19, but Derek MacMillan said he was proud of the group for how they competed. 

"The kids put in a lot of effort and we were actually the better team but we lost in overtime," he said. "I'll look back at it as one of the most memorable experiences. But right now it stings a little."

The two players said each other's qualities makes their time on the rink more enjoyable.

"It makes it way more fun, having a very skilled friend and being able to rip around the ice with them," MacMillan said. He likes Meunier's speed and hockey IQ, while Meunier appreciates MacMillan's intensity, passing, and his ability to win his battles.

"He's a really fun player to play with," Meunier said.