Matt Murray of St. Albert is one of two Alberta Junior Hockey League players listed in the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings for the 2016 entry draft.
The Spruce Grove Saints’ netminder and defenceman Brinson Pasichnuk of the Bonneyville Pontiacs were included on the North American goalies and North American skaters list, respectively. Murray is ranked 27th out of 30 goalies and Pasichnuk is 147th out of 210 skaters.
Murray and Pasichnuk will participate in the Canadian Junior Hockey League Prospects Game on Tuesday in Surrey, B.C. The top NHL prospects in the CJHL, as identified by NHL Central Scouting, will be showcased. Players from the CJHL’s five western leagues will compete against the CJHL’s five eastern leagues.
The 2016 NHL entry draft is June 24-25 in Buffalo.
Murray (19-3, 2.38 GAA) is in his second season with the first-place Saints (37-6-3), the defending AJHL champions. The former bantam AAA Sabre and midget 15 Flyer is among the leading AJHL goalies in wins, GAA, save percentage (.919) and shutouts (three).
Murray also backstopped Team Canada West to victory at the 10th annual World Junior A Challenge last month in Cobourg, Ont. He stopped 27 of 28 shots in the 2-1 win over Russia and finished 4-0 in the tournament with a 2.75 GAA and .912 save percentage for the undefeated Team Canada West lineup that included 11 AJHL players.
The next two games for the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres are against potential playoff opponents in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
The Sabres play the SAC Southgate Lions today at 5:15 p.m. at Confederation Arena and Tuesday they host the Sherwood Park Flyers at 7 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The Flyers (24-2-1) and Sabres (22-4-5) share top spot in the nitro north standings but Sherwood Park has four games in hand. The Lions (16-9-3) are ranked third and will play the second-place team in the best-of-three opening playoff round starting Feb. 16.
The Calgary Bisons (24-2-3) of the challenger south division are first overall in the 21-team AMBHL by two points over the Flyers and Sabres.
The Sabres are coming off wins of 9-1 against the Maple Leafs (0-29) Tuesday at Castledowns Arena and 5-1 against the Camrose Red Wings (12-15-1) Thursday in St. Albert after going 1-3-1 as the C finalists at the John Reid Memorial Tournament.
