The St. Albert Merchants roared out of the starting gate with two victories last weekend in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The 2014 Founders Cup finalists and forth-place finishers at provincials beat the North Edmonton Red Wings 5-3 Friday at Akinsdale Arena and downed the Morinville Jets 9-3 Sunday at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
Mitch McNamara (power play), Mike Roeleveld and Andrew Clark (power play) scored in the first period and Casey Reid’s shorthanded marker made it 4-1 in the last minute of period two.
It was 4-3 when Josh Jewell iced it halfway through the third.
Reid added two assists and Blair Macuch had two helpers.
Shots were 32-27 for the home team as netminder Ethan Maertens-Poole recorded his first win as a Merchant.
During the pre-game ceremonies, captain Kurtis Watts and assistant captain Ryan Harrison from the 2013/14 Merchants received $500 alumni scholarships and the team presented the St. Albert Food Bank a $500 cheque from the proceeds of last season’s team calendar sales. Mayor Nolan Crouse also dropped the ceremonial face-off puck.
In Morinville, the Merchants and Jets (1-1) scored within the opening two minutes of the game. It was 3-1 for the Money Men after the first and 6-2 entering the third. The visitors notched their ninth goal with 5:07 to play.
The scoring summary from the game was unavailable at press time.
Friday, the Merchants host the Edmonton Royals (1-1) at Akinsdale and Sunday they skate against the Edmonton Mustangs (2-0) at Bill Hunter Arena. Game times are 8 p.m.
St. Albert netminder Pat Dea drew the season-opening assignment for the Memorial Cup champion Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday.
Dea, 17, faced 20 shots in his first career Western Hockey League start as the Oil Kings doubled the Kootenay Ice 4-2 on the team’s banner-raising night at Rexall Place.
The Oil Kings are starting the season with Dea and Tyler Santos, 20, in net with the No. 1 puck-stopper, Tristan Jarry, at the Pittsburgh Penguins’ training camp. Santos was Jarry’s backup during the Oil Kings’ run to the Memorial Cup.
Dea made his first WHL appearance last November as an emergency backup for Santos and Jarry not dressed. After Santos surrendered six goals on 17 shots against the Prince George Cougars and got the hook Dea stopped 15 of 17 shots in the 8-3 loss in Edmonton.
The 22nd overall pick of the Oil Kings as the first goalie taken in the 2012 WHL bantam draft is coming off an excellent campaign with the St. Albert Raiders as a first-team all-star and recipient of the Bill Ranford Trophy as the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League’s top goalie.
In league play, Dea (13-4-4 and one shutout) ranked third with a 1.97 GAA in 1,220 minutes for the top defensive team in the north division. He led all goalies with .941 save percentage while stopping 633 shots, 110 more than the next highest total.
In the playoffs Dea was 6-5 with one shutout, 2.66 GAA and .921 save percentage for the north finalists.
The previous season Dea was selected as the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League’s most valuable player with the St. Albert Flyers.
The St. Albert Slash handed the Peace Country Storm their first loss of the season in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League last weekend in Grande Prairie.
Megan Lalor’s fourth goal and seventh point of the season, a shorthanded effort with 4:14 left in regulation time, snapped a 1-1 stalemate as the Slash raised their record to 3-2 in Sunday’s 2-1 win.
Jenna Jewell opened the scoring in the first frame.
The Slash were outshot 36-26. In net was Natalie Bender.
Saturday, the Slash dropped their second game in a row, 3-1 to the Storm (3-1) as Lalor scored the lone goal. Bender was between the pipes as the Slash were outshot 36-19.
This weekend, the Slash are in Lethbridge for the AMMFHL showcase event with three games in three days on tap against the Lloydminster Steelers (1-2), Southeast Tigers (1-3) and Red Deer Chiefs (3-0-1), the host team for the 2015 Esso Cup national championship.
The St. Albert Sabres opened their regular season in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League with a loss Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
Brady Nicholas scored late in the 5-1 setback against the Grande Prairie Storm. Noah Fayad and Dylan Wells drew assists.
Colton Girad faced 30 shots while the Sabres were credited with 26 shots on goal.
Tuesday the Sabres hosted the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (0-1) but the score was unavailable at press time.
Friday, the Sabres play the Team Alberta U18 females at 8:30 p.m. at Clare Drake Arena. St. Albert Slash forward Megan Lalor and defenceman Abigail Benning, a Slash alumna, are on the 30-player U18 shortlist for the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
Sunday the Sabres face-off against the SSAC Southgate Lions (1-0) at 5:45 p.m. at Millwoods Arena.
