The St. Albert Flyers lost only six games this season but suffered two setbacks at the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League provincials.
The north division leaders at 32-4-1 (200 GF/55 GA) and Sutter North Cup playoff tournament winners at 5-0 (20 GF/6 GA) finished last weekend’s provincials at 5-2 (24 GF/17 GA) after beating the host Grande Peace Storm 5-2 in Sunday’s third-place game in Clairmont.
The Flyers gave up two goals in the opening 5:08 minutes before rattling off five in a row. Dominik Cesarz potted a pair and Tanner Fincaryk also tallied in the first period and Erik Boers and Cam Aucoin (shorthanded) struck in the middle frame.
Evan Fradette (3-1, 1.75 GAA) faced 19 shots against the Storm, 2-4 at provincials after placing last in the 12-team north standings at 5-28-4.
Cesarz finished provincials as the team’s leading scorer with four goals and eight points.
Boers and Aucoin tied for second in points with seven apiece.
The Flyers started off the six-team round robin with wins of 7-3 against the Canadian Athletic Club (0-4-1), 3-1 against the CBHA Rangers (1-3-1), 2-1 against the CNHA Canucks (3-4) and 4-1 against the Storm before dropping a 6-3 decision to the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7-0).
It was 4-0 Lethbridge when Jaron Coles put the Flyers on the board at 16:20 of the second.
Stuart Dovey and Kyle Fulton connected on the power play in the third
Shot were even at 35 apiece and Ryley Osland (2-1, 3.33 GAA) was in net.
Lethbridge, the top south division team at 29-2-6 (201 GF/59 GA), went on to convincing victories of 10-1 against the Storm in the semifinals and 7-0 against the Canucks in the final.
The second loss for the Flyers at provincials was 3-0 to the Canucks in the semifinals.
The Canucks, third in the south at 21-10-6 (155 GF/106 GA), scored shorthanded in the second and on the power play at 12:04 in the third.
The last goal was an empty netter after the Flyers were penalized several times while trailing 2-0.
The St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders and Strathcona Warriors will battle for the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League championship in the best-of-five final.
Game one is April 6 at 8:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Game two is April 8 at 7:30 p.m. at SOC/Fultonvale and game three is April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
If needed, game four is April 11 at 6:45 p.m. at SOC/Fultonvale and game five is April 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
Both teams are also competing at provincials and Thursday they go head-to-head at 12:45 p.m. in Okotoks.
In league play, the Crusaders (19-11-2, 116 GF/89 GA) finished second in the Besa division of the Metro conference and Strathcona (18-10-4, 117 GF/87 GA) was second in the CanAccom division of the Rural conference.
Strathcona was 3-1-1 in the CanAccom playoff tournament and in the best-of-three Rural conference final defeated the GPAC Storm (14-10-8), ranked fourth in the Bouchier division, 2-0 in game three March 19.
The Crusaders finished 5-1 the Besa division playoff tournament and in the best-of-three Metro conference final went the distance to edge SSAC Don Wheaton 3-2 in the third and deciding game March 21 at Go Auto Arena.
Brett Miller’s team-leading ninth playoff goal and 12th point knotted it at two in the second period and Rhys Mazur sniped the series winner unassisted with under three minutes to play.
Seth Summers also scored his third goal in three games.
Shots were 33-28 for the Crusaders as Shane Zilka (5-0, 1.90 GAA) backstopped the team to victory.
SSAC (12-17-3), tied for third in the Anderson division, won the series opener 3-2 and the Crusaders posted a 2-1 decision in game two as Summers netted the winner with under four minutes left in regulation time.
The bantam AA provincials for the St. Albert Comets is a preview of the Edmonton Rural Bantam AA Hockey League playoff final against the Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
The Comets and Barons face-off Thursday at 12:45 p.m. in Olds in the provincial opener for both teams.
The best-of-three league final is next weekend in Fort McMurray.
The Metro conference Comets (20-6-6, 142 GF/83 GA) and the Rural conference Barons (23-8-1, 186 GF/98 GA) finished first in their respective divisions and in the playoffs St. Albert is 6-2 and Fort McMurray is 5-1-1 in the divisional tournament format and conference finals.
Brett Reiter leads the Comets in playoff scoring with nine goals and 13 points, followed by Adam Olsen’s eight goals and 12 points and Dylan Leslie’s 10 points.
Carson Ironside (5-2, 2.10 GAA) has recorded a league-high two playoff shutouts.
Voting ends tonight for the peewee St. Albert Predators in the Good Deeds Cup.
The Predators are among 13 finalists through the Chevrolet Power of Play hockey program, which seeks to promote positive values in young Canadians through hockey.
The Predators gained attention for their off-ice involvement with the Hope Mission and other charities.
Voting ends at 10 p.m. through www.chevrolet.ca/hockey/power-of-play.html.
The winner receives $10,000, plus $5,000 to the team’s charity of choice and $5,000 to its minor hockey association.
