Home opener for junior B Merchants, exhibition for Raiders and SAPEC junior high cross-country championships

Merchants turn 35

The St. Albert Merchants will reveal their 35^th anniversary edition jerseys in Friday’s season-opener in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.

Game time is 8 p.m. against the Beverly Warriors at Akinsdale Arena.

Kids in the Crowd tickets for all home games are available at school offices in St. Albert for free child admission when accompanied by a paying adult ($5 for adults and $2 for seniors).

The pre-game tailgate party starts at 6:30 p.m. and the first 150 fans will receive free hamburgers and hotdogs from the Original Joe’s charity food truck in exchange for donations to the Diabetes Research Foundation of Canada.

The Rock’n August classic car winners will also be on display.

Sunday the Merchants visit the Edmonton Mustangs at 8 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.

The Merchants wrapped up the pre-season with a 2-1 record in Sunday’s 9-1 decision against the visiting Sherwood Park Knights.

Upcoming for the Merchants is the Sept. 28 rivalry game against the Morinville Jets at 8 p.m. in St. Albert.

Raiders at home

Tonight’s exhibition game between the St. Albert Nektar Data Systems Raiders and Leduc Oil Kings begins at 7:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.

The Raiders are 1-2-1 in the pre-season.

The Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League home-opener for the Raiders is Sept. 29 against Leduc at 8 p.m.

The pre-game ceremony will honour the St. Albert Raiders Hockey Club alumni killed in the Humboldt Broncos’ bus crash April 6 with the raising of the Humboldt Strong banner and memorial unveiling. Smitty Kingston will also perform his Humboldt Broncos’ tribute song Leave a Stick by the Door.

SAPEC events

The St. Albert Physical Education Council district junior high cross-country championships start 10 a.m. Thursday at Kingswood Park.

Race distances on the Riverlot 56 course are approximately 2.1 kilometres for all males and females except for 2.75 km for the senior males.

The top male and female Grade 7, 8 and 9 finishers qualify for zones Sept. 26 at Gold Bar Park.

Meanwhile, the SAPEC junior high volleyball regular season swings into action Sept. 27, followed by the SAPEC tournament Sept. 28-29 featuring 16 male and 16 female teams. Last year’s tournament winners were the Lorne Akins Gators for the males and Morinville Wolves for the females.

The defending SAPEC Tier I city champions are the William D. Cuts Crusaders for the males and Sir George Simpson Voyageurs for females.