Reid tournament
Three unanswered goals in the third period propelled the Northern Alberta Xtreme past the Los Angeles Jr. Kings in Sunday’s championship final at the 40th annual John Reid Memorial Tournament.Matt Savoie, a St. Albert minor hockey product, scored the equalizer halfway through the third and his fifth goal of the tournament was the winner with 3:49 remaining.
Dylan Guenther’s tournament-leading eighth goal sealed the deal at 5-3 with 32 seconds to go.
Zac Ostapchuk, a forward, and defenceman Marc Lajoie, members of the 2016/17 St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres with Savoie, assisted on the play.
Gordon Lochlan of the Xtreme faced 28 shots and Alexander Bonrouhi, the tournament MVP, stopped 31 shots for the Kings.
The Xtreme (5-0-1) and Kings (4-1-1) were also the tournament finalists at the fifth Rocky Mountain Classic in November at Calgary with the Kings winning 5-4 in a shootout.
Savoie, a first-year bantam born on Jan. 1, 2004, led all scorers in the St. Albert bantam AAA invitational with 18 points.
The No. 1-ranked 2004 born prospect was also the recipient of the tournament's top forward award.
The Xtreme roster includes defenceman Cale Ashcroft of St. Albert.
The Xtreme compete in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League and are based in the Black School District at John Maland High School and Riverview Middle School in Devon.
Jets flying fast
The Morinville Jets have five games remaining before the playoffs, starting tonight against Spruce Grove Regals in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.Faceoff is 7:45 p.m. at Grant Fuhr Arena.
In the west division, the Jets (21-10-2) trail the second-place North Edmonton Red Wings (22-10-2) by two points and the Flyers (14-17-3) are four back of the fourth-place St. Albert Merchants (17-14-1).
The third win in four games for the Jets was 5-3 against the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks (18-10-4) Sunday at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
Brett Dubuc opened and closed the scoring with his 39th goal, a power-play tally in the first period, and the 40th was deposited at even strength with 1:13 to play.
Josh Perrott potted a pair and Josh Mcrae also found the back of the net.
Brett Kampjes picked up three assists and Dubuc added two helpers.
Dubuc is second in the CJHL in goals and fourth in points with 72 in 33 games.
The teams combined for 25 infractions for 90 penalty minutes.
Shots were 38-33 for the Jets as Colton Kucher (9-5, 2.08 GAA) posted the win.
The Jets started off the weekend in Friday’s 6-2 victory over the host Sherwood Park Knights (14-15-3).
Kampjes potted a pair and Dubuc, Mcrae, Lee Gadoury and Liam Thomas notched singles. Dubuc also chipped in with two assists.
Shots were 37-34 for the Jets and Luke Hall (10-6, 3.48 GAA) tended the twine.
The next home game is Sunday versus the Beverly Warriors (23-10-1), the top team in the west, at 7:15 p.m.
Raiders shut out
The St. Albert Tire Warehouse Raiders fired blanks in the second consecutive shutout loss in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.The Raiders lost 2-0 Saturday to the host Lethbridge Hurricanes (21-4-4) after failing to light the lamp the weekend before in the 6-0 setback to the Southside Athletic Club (7-12-9) at Akinsdale Arena.
The Raiders (13-11-5, 72 GF/64 GA) are now five points behind the first-place KC Pats (17-9-2, 101 GF/70 GA) in the north division after leading the Pats by two at the Christmas break.
The Raiders are also winless in three games during a 0-4-1 slump after falling short against the top south division team. Shots were 41-19 for Lethbridge against a lineup minus four regulars. Mitch Reidy (8-5-3, 2.13 GAA) was between the pipes.
The Raiders travel Sunday to play the Red Deer Chiefs (18-4-6) at 3:45 p.m.
Flyers grounded
The St. Albert Flyers lost ground on the north division leaders after a rare loss in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.The midget 15 Flyers were undefeated in 14 games at 10-0-4 before the 2-1 setback to the Grande Peace Storm (10-11-7) Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
The teams exchanged power-play markers, with Dylan McFatridge knotting the score in the second period with his team-high 12th goal, and in the third the Storm potted the winner with 11:23 to play.
The shot count was 27-26 for the Storm and Ethan Barwick (11-3-3, 2.13 GAA) was in net as the Flyers suffered their first loss since the 5-3 decision Nov. 4 against MLAC (11-12-3).
The Flyers (16-4-6) and now two points behind the Sherwood Park Squires (19-4-2) for the division pennant and the Squires have a game in hand.
Saturday the Flyers visit the Leduc Oil Kings (10-11-4) at 5:45 p.m. and Sunday’s home game against the Lloydminster Bobcats (7-10-8) starts at 10:45 a.m.
The Flyers are 8-2-2 at the Akinsdale rink.
