Local Sports

A winning season is starting to slip away from the slumping St. Albert Steel. Losers of six of their last seven games, the Steel (23-21-2) are mired in the seventh and last playoff spot in the north division.

Today’s semifinals in the A playoff bracket at the John Reid Memorial Tournament start at 1:45 p.m. at Mark Messier Arena and 2:15 p.m. at Troy Murray Arena. The final of the 33rd annual St. Albert bantam AAA tournament goes 2 p.m.

The St. Albert Sabres started play in the John Reid Memorial Tournament with a perfect 2-0 record. In the first game Thursday, the host team squeaked out a 2-1 victory in a tightly contested affair against Red Deer Rebels White at Performance Arena.

There was a silver lining to losing the gold-medal game at the recent U18 world women’s hockey championship for Team Canada assistant coach France Montour. “That was a great accomplishment.

The St. Albert Steel got back on track in the playoff race by derailing one of the teams they are chasing in the north division.

Jarome Iginla has withdrawn from the NHL all-star weekend for family reasons. The St.

The St. Albert Fury didn’t lose a game as the U12A division champions at the 25th annual Esso Golden Ring last weekend in Calgary. In the gold-medal game the Fury edged the Sherwood Park Shiver 3-2 for their sixth win in the tournament.

In Sunday’s north division heavyweight clash, the St. Albert Slash dropped a 3-1 decision to the Edmonton Thunder in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League.

The St. Albert Steel continue to spin their wheels in the race for fourth place in the north division and home-ice advantage in the opening best-of-five playoff round.

The puck drops Thursday morning at the John Reid Memorial Tournament in St. Albert.