Ty Clelland was money in the net for the St. Albert Merchants last weekend in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The newcomer from the North Edmonton Red Wings backstopped the Merchants (7-3) to victories of 6-3 over the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks (5-4) and 8-3 against the Wetaskiwin Icemen (2-7).
Clelland was brought on board to provide consistent netminding for a team that struggled stopping the puck this season.
Clelland turned aside 20 shots against the Hawks in his Merchants’ debut Friday at Akinsdale Arena and recorded a game-high 38 saves Sunday in Wetaskiwin.
The 2014 Founders Cup finalists combined for 198 penalty minutes Friday, with the Hawks tagged for 104 minutes on 21 infractions.
Goals by Casey Reid and Blair Macuch in the second period broke open a 2-2 tie.
It was 4-3 Merchants in the third when Mike Roeleveld and Reid cashed in on the power play.
McGugan (power play) and Blair Johnson tallied in the opening frame.
Reid led all scorers with five points and Macuch finished with four points against the defending playoff champions.
The Merchants directed 38 shots at Hawks’ goalie Tyler Berger.
Reid and Braeden Farge potted a pair, Mitch McNamara and A.J. Yariwon capitalized with the man advantage and Liam McNamara and Roeleveld sniped singles in Wetaskiwin. Farge’s first goal, a power play effort with under five minutes left in the second, made it 5-1.
Macuch’s three helpers raised his league-leading totals to 20 assists and 23 points.
Reid and McGugan also picked up two assists apiece.
This weekend, the Merchants visit the Leduc Riggers (3-5-1) Friday at 8:15 p.m. and Sunday they host the Sherwood Park Knights (4-4-1) at 8 p.m.
The Morinville Jets are the top team in the Capital Junior B Hockey League after knocking off the Beverly Warriors in Sunday’s first-place showdown at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
Tyler Hagel lit the lamp four times and Boe Geslinger and Brandon Dubuc posted three assists apiece in the 8-5 victory.
Geslinger, Dylan Stang, Lee Gadoury and Riley Van Brabant also scored for the Jets (7-2-1).
The Warriors (7-2) outshot the Jets 27-24. In net was Lawrence Rosychuk.
Tonight at 8 p.m., the Jets play the Edmonton Mustangs (6-3-1) at Bill Hunter Arena.
The next home game is Sunday against the Wetaskiwin Icemen (2-7) at 6:45 p.m.
Cody Issler scored twice and Curtis Ronaldson stopped 29 shots as the Morinville Kings doubled the Slave Lake Winterhawks 6-3 Saturday in the North Central Hockey League.
Wayne Gatza, Riley Miller, Shane O’Neill and Keagan Arcand also found the back of the net and Chris Wilson added two assists in the senior AA team’s league opener in Slave Lake.
Joel Pelletier of the Kings and Brent Hill of the Winterhawks dropped the flippers in a third-period bout.
This weekend, the Kings travel to Mayerthorpe to play the Whitecourt Wild on Friday and Saturday they host two-time defending NCHL champion Devon Barons at Ray McDonald Sports Centre. Game times are 8:30 p.m.
In the home opener, the Kings will raise their 2014 Hockey Alberta provincial senior A banner to the rafters prior to the puck drop.
Last season Devon (13-2-3) finished two points ahead of the second-place Kings (13-4-1) in the NCHL north standings.
This is the Kings’ second NCHL season.
The St. Albert Raiders are winless in seven games after losing twice last weekend in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.
The Raiders (1-3-4) fell 7-2 to the Canadian Athletic Club (6-0-2) at Akinsdale Arena and 3-2 to the Southside Athletic Club (2-3-3) at Bill Hunter Arena.
The Raiders had posted four consecutive ties going into the weekend.
Ryan Peckford and Brayden Nicholetts scored in the third period after the Canadians poured in seven goals, including four on the power play. The home team was outshot 36-25.
The next day the Southside scored the only goal in the third period with 1:40 to play.
Ryan Cox and Peckford filled the net in the first and Joshua Dechaine stopped a game-high 51 shots for the Raiders.
This weekend the Raiders entertain the UFA Bisons (4-3-1) Saturday at 3:45 p.m. and the Grande Prairie Storm (2-3-3) Sunday at 1:15 p.m.
Erynn Shantz posted her third shutout of the season with 14 saves as the St. Albert Slash blanked the Peace Country Storm of Grande Prairie in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League.
Jenna Jewell, Breanna Golosky and Kennedy Newton supplied the offence in the 3-0 decision against the Storm (5-6-2) at Go Auto Arena.
The day before, Megan Lalor tallied twice and Natalie Bender stopped 23 shots in the 4-1 win over the Lloydminster Steelers (2-7-1) in St. Albert.
Lalor also assisted on goals by Jewell and Brooke Tipton.
Lalor is the co-leader in goals with 10 and points with 16 in 12 games in the AMMFHL. She also ranks among the top penalty minutes leaders with 22 PIM.
The Slash (8-6-1) continue their six-game homestand Sunday against the first-place Red Deer Chiefs (10-0-2), the host team for the 2015 Esso Cup national championship. Faceoff is 1:30 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
The Slash are 4-0-1 on home ice this season.
