The St. Albert Merchants are money in the bank operating out at Akinsdale Arena.
Seven of the team’s 13 wins in 17 games were deposited on home ice.
“It’s definitely hard to beat us at home as our record shows,” said centre Jordan MacPhee prior to Friday's date with the visiting Morinville Jets.
The score was unavailable at press time between the Capital Junior B Hockey League rivals.
The Money Men wrap up their mini four-game homestand Sunday against the Stony Plain Flyers at 8 p.m.
“It’s great at home,” MacPhee said. “We have our nice dressing room where we have plenty of time to prepare. It’s way better than having to travel out and having to squeeze into a little dressing room. At home we’re there an hour and a half before the game and it definitely helps us focus a lot more and kind of relax too going into the game.”
The last loss, and fourth on the road, was 4-3 two weeks ago in Stony Plain when the Merchants gassed a two-goal lead against the Flyers (11-6) to snap a six-game winning streak.
“The games where we don’t play the full 60 minutes are the ones that really get to us,” MacPhee said. “All it takes is one shift off or one missed play and with one shot it’s either a tied game or they’re back in it and that gives them the momentum back, which we always want to avoid. We just have to keep on not letting up on teams.”
In a season where there has been few ebbs and flows the Merchants were two points behind the North Edmonton Red Wings (13-3-2) with a game in hand in the race for first place in the west division and top spot overall.
“We’re actually looking pretty good,” MacPhee said. “All four of our lines are rolling through. We’re not a team that is focused on having a top one or two lines, we’re a team that has depth and can roll all four lines. It keeps everyone fresh and ready to go and that’s what wins us our games.
“Another big thing is when we keep the puck down low and are cycling – not many teams in the league can handle that pressure.”
The 2014 Founders Cup finalists are a marked team after going 34-3-1 in league play and 45-11-1 overall as the fourth-place finishers at provincials.
“Most definitely we’re the team to gun for. Teams that can’t play with us skill-wise they get physical and play the body on you. They’ll pound you and beat you down until they can pop one on you,” MacPhee said. “Teams are coming hard at us like that because they want to knock us out of that top spot but we’ve managed to keep holding on.”
The roster of six newcomers and 16 veterans, including over-ager (21-year-old) defenceman Karmen Ward and forwards’ Mike Roeleveld, A.J. Yariwon and Trevor Wiebe, have formed a tight bond since the season started.
“We’ve been doing off the ice a lot of team things just to bring us even closer together as friends and once you get friendships your chemistry builds from there,” MacPhee said. “On and off the ice we’re just having a bunch of fun right now.”
The former midget AA Crusader is among nine players remaining from the spellbinding 2012 playoff run that ended with a 3-2 loss in game seven of the semifinals against the Wetaskiwin Icemen at home. At stake was a berth in the final and a trip to provincials.
“That’s where Merchants Madness started. We kind of came out of nowhere and the fans started coming out and that’s where we started building this team,” MacPhee said of the deepest playoff run by the Merchants in years. “We were kind of the underdogs and from there we’ve got stronger and stronger.”
MacPhee, 20, has embraced his role as one of the team’s elder statesmen in showing others how to play like a Merchant.
“I’m kind of getting up there for experience on the team so a lot of the younger guys coming in they look towards us third years for more leadership.”
MacPhee has led by example at both ends of the ice this season. With six goals and 12 points in 17 games, plus 37 penalty minutes, he is destined to surpass his previous highs of 12 goals (four shorthanded), 29 points and 76 PIM in 37 games in 2013/14.
“My role is mainly support, especially defensively. I watch my defensive zone and worry about offence after that. I just want to make sure they don’t score when I’m on the ice,” said the man in the middle on a line with veterans’ Thomas Rotundo and Brent McGugan in recent games.
