The defending Fountain Tire Cup champions from St. Albert embark on their final playoff Crusade this weekend in Peace River.
The winners of four elimination playoff games in the last two series in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League will defend their crown against the Royals in a rematch of last year’s best-of-five championship that went the distance.
“Winning it once was such an amazing experience so to do it again would be even sweeter,” said Ryan Laird, co-captain of the 40-14-4 Crusaders.
The Royals (25-7) host the first three games because they finished with more points than the Crusaders (22-6-4).
If needed, game four is April 4 at 7 p.m. and game five is April 5 at 1 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
“It will be tough but we can overcome anything,” said netminder Connor Mckay. “We had four elimination games so far in playoffs and we managed to overcome those and now we’re in the championship final against Peace River. Hopefully we can do a repeat of last year and beat them.”
In league play in January the Royals blanked the Crusaders 6-0 in St. Albert.
“They’re probably thinking it’s going to be a walkover this year in the series,” said Mckay, who was peppered with 50 shots in the loss. “They want revenge on us for last year too so hopefully we’ll go there and either sweep them, which I’m hoping, or come back home and get the big series win and the championship.”
The Crusaders took the shutout loss in stride.
“Whether it was 6-0 or 2-1 a loss is a loss and we just tried to move forward from it,” Laird said. “We had the fullest expectation that we were going to play them again in the final.”
Last year the Crusaders finished 50-10-6 overall after crowning the Royals 8-2 in the deciding game in Peace River.
“We had a lot of skill on our team last year and this year I don’t think we have as much but we’re more complete as a whole as a squad,” said Laird, one of seven returning players who celebrated last year’s championship victory.
“Last year we had some size and this year we have a bit smaller team but we’re hard working and determined with a lot of dedication. Everyone is competing to the best of their abilities. Everyone is going hard because we want to win again this year,” Mckay added.
Last year’s final started in St. Albert and the Royals won the weekend opener before the Crusaders rallied for a 2-1 series lead going into Peace River.
“Last year we ended up finishing ahead of Peace River (by three points) so we felt more confident that we could go in and win almost no matter what,” Laird said. “This year we’re more of a give it all you’ve got kind of team that never gives up, where as last year we were more of a playmaking kind of team, almost relying on skill than speed. This year we have a ton of players that have speed all through our forward lines and D lines.”
Last weekend at the midget AA major provincials the Royals finished 1-1-2 while the Crusaders used the time off to recharge their batteries for the final after losing out to the Spruce Grove PAC Saints in the provincial zone playdowns.
Last year at provincials, the weekend before the final kicked off, the Crusaders split four games and the Royals were 1-2-1.
“We were very disappointment that we couldn’t make provincials but obviously it was nice to beat Spruce Grove in the playoffs in the first round after they knocked us out of provincials,” Laird said. “It was a grind for sure to get to the final but it was nice to have a week or so off to regroup. We had two very tough series leading up to the provincial weekend so I think it was good for our team to have this break and the weekend off and not worry about finishing high in provincials.”
In the playoffs the Crusaders swept the Saints (12-12-8) in the Clean Harbor division semifinal by scores of 9-2 and 5-4 in double overtime, with Andy Barr, who snipped the series clincher in the 24th minute of sudden-death.
“That was a big accomplishment for us,” said Mckay, who stopped 13 shots in OT and 59 overall in game two. “It’s been a great season, it’s just tough we lost in the provincial playdowns to Spruce Grove.”
The best-of-three division final against the Wetaskiwin Ice Kings (16-9-7) started with a 3-2 loss in St. Albert before the Crusaders rallied to win 5-2 in Wetaskiwin and 6-2 on home ice.
In game two the Crusaders battled back from a 2-1 third-period deficit.
“With the season we had with Wetaskiwin we won pretty easily and losing the first game we knew that we would win the second game for sure,” said Laird, a defenceman who registered five assists in game three. “The returning players and the captains rallied the team together to get through that second game and from there we thought we were kind of unstoppable.”
The best-of-three league semifinal against SSAC Don Wheaton (21-7-4) also went down to the wire after the Crusaders took it on the chin 7-3 in the series opener in St. Albert.
“We got murdered in the first game basically,” Laird said. “The coaching staff really helped us to realize that it’s a new game and it’s a new day and whoever comes out to play and works the hardest will come with the win.”
The next game in Edmonton the Crusaders outshot SSAC 28-21 while tallying three times in the first period in the 5-0 decision.
Mckay, 18, pitched the shutout after getting run over in the third period of game one and was replaced in net by Elliot Saive. The SSAC player was tagged with a five-minute charging major on the play but wasn’t suspended.
“It was a big accomplishment by the team to go to game three,” said Mckay, who is 6-2 with a 2.68 GAA in the playoffs.
The Crusaders pumped home two unanswered goals in the third to edge SSAC 5-4 in game three in St. Albert. Peter Corrigan, an affiliate player, pulled the Crusaders even at four halfway through the period and Tristen Gavin’s second goal of the game and fifth of the playoffs with 1:51 remaining was the winner.
“It was a big series win for us,” Mckay said. “They knocked out the other St. Albert team, the Blues (3-2 and 4-1 in the Inside Edge division final), so we wanted to get revenge on them for knocking them out.”
In the middle frame, with Mckay sporting a different helmet after his broke, SSAC potted a pair 29 seconds apart to lead 4-3 with under nine minutes left in the period. He finished with a game-high 34 saves.
“Right then and there we thought our season was over. We were down and it’s tough to come back in the playoffs,” said the Grade 12 St. Albert Catholic High School student.
Laird, 17, said the Crusaders have bought into the team concept of playoff hockey.
“Everyone on the team has really taken a role as a player, whether you’re a penalty killer or on the power play. Everyone knows their role and we’re all committed to the team and we know we have certain roles that we have to do,” said the Grade 12 Jasper Place High School student.
