Mitch Martell was recognized as the north division’s brightest star last month in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.
The St. Albert Raider was the top netminder in the north with a 4-0-1 record, 1.20 GAA and .950 save percentage as the Source for Sports player for October.
He will receive a $100 gift certificate from Source for Sports Dealers of Alberta, a watch imprinted with the league logo and a commemorative plaque.
“It’s an honour to win the award. There is a lot of good players in this league,” Martell told the Gazette at Thursday’s practice. “I had a good month and I was recognized. I’m pretty grateful.”
Martell, 17, is now 6-1-1 with a .925 save percentage. He is tied for the shutout lead with two – both were against the KC Pats - and ranks third with a 1.66 GAA in 507 minutes played.
“We have a very good defensive team so I’m making a lot of easy saves. The guys are making it really easy for me right now,” said the Grade 12 St. Albert Catholic High School student.
Martell’s last start was Sunday’s 3-2 win against the south division leading Red Deer Chiefs (9-2-3) at the midget AAA showcase weekend event in Strathmore. After giving up two goals on six shots in the first period he shut the door against the three-time defending provincial champions and 2012 Telus Cup national gold medallists.
Brett Smythe knotted the score in the second and fired the game winner with under five minutes remaining against Red Deer backup Jayden Sittler (10 saves in 29 minutes played).
Jason Miller scored in the second against starter Matt Zentner, the league’s No. 1 goalie at 4-1-2, 1.20 GAA, two shutouts and .945 save percentage as the south division’s player of the month.
“It was probably our best game of the year. We had two big goals by Smythe and beat the best team in Canada,” Martell said.
The Raiders had lost six in a row to Red Deer, including the 2012 best-of-five provincial final. Last month Red Deer edged the north division co-leaders 3-2 in St. Albert.
“We were a bit more tenacious this time,” said Martell, who watched from the bench as Pat Gora drew the start in the first Red Deer tilt. “We didn’t really know what to expect when they came here for that first game. This time we knew what was going at us and we had to be playing our very best to compete. That was the difference maker; we knew what we had to do and got it done.”
It was a good bounce back win after the Raiders lost 5-3 to the Strathmore-based UFA Bisons (7-7) the night before.
Kyler Hehr, the Raiders’ leading scorer with 11 goals and 20 points in 14 games, Smythe and Paul Lovsin struck on the power play. Miller added two assists.
The Bisons posted period leads of 2-1 and 3-2. Martell replaced Gora (three GA on 11 shots) in the middle frame and the Raiders trailing 3-1.
“There was a big crowd and they were fired up. They were energized to play the top team in the north and it was the feature game,” Martell said. “They kind of jumped on us early, got a few quick goals and we never really got back into it.”
The Raiders are now 2-2-1 in their last five games after winning four straight. They share first place in the north with the Southside Athletic Club at 8-3-3.
“We’ve had a lot of good team wins. It’s fun to play here,” said Martell, who spent last season with the midget AA Whitecourt Mustangs.
Today the Raiders hit the road to play the Grande Prairie Storm (2-8-4) at 3 p.m. and return home to host the Canadian Athletic Club (6-5-3) Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena. The Raiders are 4-2-2 on home ice.
“We’ve got to be prepared to get on the bus to Grande Prairie and back in one day and that’s always tough with that quick turnaround for CAC on Sunday,” Martell said.
The team is still not at full strength after what Martell described as the Raider plague. The team’s pasta meal Sunday may have triggered the flu-like symptoms. Most of the players were unable to attend practice Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday’s home game against the last-place Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (1-10-2) was postponed to Dec. 15 at 8 p.m.
“The whole team just started puking,” Martell said. “We’re getting better slowly.”
