Merch Madness starts next week for the team to beat in the Capital Junior B Hockey League playoffs.
“We’re looking strong coming into these playoffs,” said right-winger Brent McGugan of the first-place 31-6 St. Albert Merchants. “We’ve just got to keep riding the momentum we have right now and keep it going through the whole playoffs.”
In the west division, the Merchants and North Edmonton Red Wings (25-7-5) have first-round byes as they play the best-of-three series winners between the Morinville Jets (24-10-3) versus Edmonton Mustangs (18-17-2) or the Beverly Warriors (23-11-4) versus Stony Plain Flyers (23-12-3). The opening round starts Friday.
Game one in the best-of-five quarter-finals for the Merchants is expected to kick off Feb. 20 at Akinsdale Arena against the lowest-ranked team that advances from the first round.
The last game before the playoffs was Tuesday against the rival Jets in Morinville. The score was unavailable at press time.
“We’re going to try and play a conservative game but still play hard,” McGugan said. “It’s a game we always look forward to but we definitely have to stay away from injuries and suspensions, that’s the biggest thing.”
The eighth win in a row and the 18th in 19 games for the Money Men was Friday’s 3-2 decision against the Founders Cup champion Fort Saskatchewan Hawks (26-10-1) at the Fort.
“It was a big character win since we were missing a few guys,” said McGugan, the game’s first star with two power-play goals. “We worked pretty hard for that win and it definitely felt good.”
McGugan opened the scoring at the three-minute mark on his first shift of the game as Casey Reid and Josh Jewell assisted on the play.
“I was just standing in front of the net and I can’t remember who shot it but it hit the post and it was sitting right behind the goalie (Tyler Berger) and I just tapped it in,” said the second-year Merchant and former junior B Mustang.
McGugan’s 11th goal and 36th point in 37 games was an unassisted effort to make it 2-0 with 7:10 left in a middle stanza littered with penalties.
“It was weird. We had a little odd-man rush into their end and I was kind of falling so I just threw it across back door. I thought Mitch McNamara had tapped it in and I don’t know if the ref saw it or not that he had touched it so I think he just gave it to me assuming he never did lay a stick on it.”
The Hawks replied less than two minutes later with the man advantage.
Jordan MacPhee’s 12th goal and 21st point in 33 games was the winner at 5:20 of the third. Reid and Mike Bruni picked up assists.
The Hawks pulled to within one with 3:43 to play but the Merchants hung on to defeat the top team in the east standings.
Shots were 36-27 for the Merchants and Ty Clelland (23-1, 3.11 GAA) was in net.
“I don’t want to say we ran them out of the barn but we played a pretty well-rounded game,” McGugan said. “It was actually a really good test considering the playoffs are coming up right away.”
Last year, the Hawks knocked off the Merchants in the fifth and deciding game in the Founders Cup final in St. Albert.
“We definitely wanted to come into that game and play hard. For all we know we might play them in the playoffs,” said McGugan, 20, a security camera installer for Austin Security.
