The University of Alberta Golden Bears are coming to St. Albert on Saturday, when the defending Canada West champions host the University of Calgary Dinos.
Faceoff is 7 p.m. at Northstar Hyundai Arena.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for youths 12 and under and a family pack is $25.
For tickets, call 780-492-BEAR or visit www.ticketmaster.ca.
The Bears’ line-up includes T.J. Foster, a former midget AAA St. Albert Raider and Edmonton Oil King, and St. Albert Steel alumni Ben Lindemulder and Thomas Carr.
The St. Albert Merchants pocketed three out of a possible four points in the opening weekend in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
Friday the Merchants lost 6-5 in overtime to the Morinville Jets in St. Albert and Sunday doubled the Beverly Warriors 4-2 at Londonderry Arena.
Brandon Domoslai of the Jets capitalized on the power play in the five-minute OT period.
The Jets led 3-2 after the first and 5-4 after two periods. Casey Reid scored the equalizer early in the third with the man advantage.
Thomas Rotundo tallied twice, Damien McElroy and Ryan Harrison notched singles and Stefan Meunier picked up two assists for the home team.
Wayne Gatza and Justin Proulx potted two goals apiece, Boe Geslinger also scored and Keegan Arcand and Travis Geislinger both had two assists for the Jets, who have 13 players back from last season.
Merchants starting goalie Justin Pawlenchuk let in five goals on 16 shots and Max Cathcart gave up one goal on 21 shots.
Jets goalie Mike Brown faced 38 shots.
The penalty-filled affair featured 111 minutes for the Jets and 76 minutes for the Merchants.
In Sunday’s win Connor Hoekstra was the top scorer with two goals and one assist. Blair Macuch and Mitch McNamara also lit the lamp and Pawlenchuk stopped 29 shots. The Merchants registered 48 shots on net.
“We had a tough setback in our league opener but at the end of the day, three out of four points is not a bad way to start the season,” said Merchants’ head coach Scott Rodda. “The coaches are impressed with the character of the players, their work ethic and their willingness to be coached. There are areas to be worked on but the foundation is strong and we look to build on our early success.”
The Merchants are down to 25 players, including four 21-year-old overage players in Pawlenchuk, forwards’ Meunier and Ryan Harrison and defenceman Kurtis Watts.
“The difficulty in getting down to four was excruciating as the players released were quality hockey players and quality young men. They were longtime Merchants’ players and absolutely great guys all around. They were all very capable of playing at this level as proven over the years and it is without a doubt the hardest part of coaching,” Rodda said. “The release of the overage players was a necessity due to numbers as teams can only carry four. It was a tough week and weekend without those long-term Merchants around and they will be missed.”
Friday the Merchants host the Strathcona Bruins and Sunday they visit the Edmonton Mustangs at Bill Hunter Arena. Game times are 8 p.m.
The Jets, winners of their home opener 7-2 over the Wetaskiwin Icemen last weekend, travel to Fort Saskatchewan to play the Hawks on Friday at 8 p.m. Sunday’s home game against the Stony Plain Flyers goes at 6:45 p.m. at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
The puck drops this weekend for the St. Albert Raiders in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.
Saturday the Raiders host the Leduc Oil Kings at 1:15 p.m. and Sunday they skate against the KC Pats at 2:15 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.
The Raiders wrapped up exhibition play in Sunday’s 6-1 win over the Southside Athletic Club in St. Albert to finish 5-1 in the pre-season.
The St. Albert Sabres skate tonight against the Spruce Grove Saints in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
Puck drop is 7:15 p.m. at Grant Fuhr Arena.
The Sabres are winless in two games to start the season after falling 3-2 to the Maple Leafs on Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
The Leafs scored the only goal of the third period to break the tie.
Lucas Palladino and Aidan Steinke replied for the Sabres and Jack Langenhahn assisted on both goals.
The Sabres outshot the Leafs 13-10 in the third and 35-24 overall. In net was Chris Curr.
The Sabres started league play last week with a 4-2 loss to the host Sherwood Park Flyers.
Friday the Sabres play the University of Alberta Pandas in exhibition action at 6 p.m. at Clare Drake Arena.
