The sky’s the limit for the St. Albert Flyers.
The top team in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League is on the rise towards championship status with 15 games remaining in the regular season.
“We’ve all kind of realized this is a real special team we’ve got,” said Joel Bernard, head coach of the 21-0-1 Flyers. “We’re enjoying it that’s for sure but we know we’ve got to put in the hard work to get the end result.”
The eight best teams in the north division advance to the Sutter Cup playoff tournament in March to determine two reps for the midget 15 provincials in Grande Prairie.
“Basically where we’re at now is anything short of winning the North Sutter Cup is going to be a disappointment so we know we have a lot of work to do,” Bernard said. “The thing is you have to peak at the right time, which isn’t really any different than any other style of playoff. You’ve got to be good at the right time so for the last 15 games of the year my outlook is we’ve got to do all the little things right to get us there and be playing the right way when the time comes.”
So far the only pimple on a near-perfect record was last week’s 2-2 tie against the Sherwood Park Squires (16-3-3), slotted second in the north behind the Flyers.
“It was a tough game. They’re a really good team,” Bernard said. “One of our challenges is going from playing some not so stiff competition to playing a really good team like that and it’s been tough to adjust.”
In six games this month, the Flyers outscored the opposition by a hefty 44-11 margin before facing off against the Squires at Akinsdale Arena in the last contest before the Christmas break.
“It’s important for us to get into some tough games. We haven’t had enough of them and that was a really good test for us,” Bernard said. “It was a big wakeup call.”
The Flyers struck twice in the opening period and the Squires responded at 14:35 of the middle frame and in the third scored the equalizer with 26 seconds left to play as their netminder was leaving the crease for the extra attacker.
The shot count was 11-10 Flyers in the third and 29-28 overall for the Squires.
“We were doing a great job of hemming them in and about three or four things went wrong and all of a sudden they score with 26 seconds left,” Bernard said.
The result marked the first time since last month’s Prospects Cup in Chestermere the Flyers failed to win. They tied the NWCCA Stampeders, 8-10-2 in the south standings, 3-3 and in the quarter-finals lost 5-2 to the CNHA Canucks, 11-8-4 for third place in the south, to finish 2-1-1 in the tournament.
“It shows us that there are games where if we’re not at our best we’re not going to win. There are teams out there that can beat us,” Bernard said.
So far in league play the Flyers are unbeatable while averaging 5.86 goals per game and a minuscule 1.18 against.
“It starts with our goalies. We have two awesome goalies,” Bernard said of the rock-solid tandem of Evan Fradette and Ryley Osland.
The Flyers have posted eight shutouts while the rest of the north and south teams have combined for 27 in total.
“We have 15 games left so hopefully we get some more,” Bernard said.
Fradette (10-0, 0.80 GAA) and Osland (11-0-1, 1.50 GAA) are ranked first and third, respectively, in goals-against average as well as save percentage, .966 for Fradette and .944 for Osland.
Fradette has also recorded a league-high five shutouts and Osland is tied for second with three.
“For me that’s a real big deal,” Bernard said of the slew of shutouts. “At the bottom of the league there are some teams that are not the best but you still need to come out and play a defence first attitude so in games like that, and in any game really, it’s a big thing for our team that we pride ourselves on so I would rather win 3-0 than 6-2 or something like that.
“It’s definitely a combination of both really good goalies and team defence, that defence first kind of mentality.”
Offensively, five Flyers are in double digits in goals, led by captain Blake Sydlowski and Stuart Dovey with 21 apiece.
Sydlowski and Dovey are also first and fourth in league scoring with 49 and 42 points, respectively.
Dominik Cesarz is tied for 17th place with 29 points and Justin MacDonald is the team’s top-scoring defenceman with six goals and 18 points.
“We’re just really deep. There is not really a hole in our lineup anywhere and that is probably the difference between us and a lot of other teams,” Bernard said. “A lot of other teams have a lot of high end guys but there is maybe some gaps in the middle there where I think we are really just top to bottom a real solid team. Everybody is really doing the right stuff and playing team first mentality and it’s been quite good that way for us.”
The Flyers start the stretch drive towards a season to remember Jan. 10, when they resume league play against the CAC (9-8-3) at 8:15 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
“It took us a little while to kind of clue in to the fact that we’re part of something real special here. It’s kind of hit me a little bit moreso lately than it did the first couple months of the season,” Bernard said. “Now it’s time to get the job done.”
