The St. Albert Merchants are breaking the bank with a season high seven-game winning streak in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The Merchants (13-6-2) jumped from fifth place into second spot in the west division while outscoring teams 40-17.
“It’s been a consistent effort from our goaltending right out to our forwards. It’s great to see everything come together,” said head coach Clint Wandler.
The Merchants lost four in a row before turning the corner with a hard-fought 3-2 road victory against the rival Morinville Jets on Remembrance Day.
“Everybody has bought into their roles and they are executing their roles incredibly. We couldn’t ask anything more from the boys. They’re just doing a hell of a job,” Wandler said.
Justin Pawlenchuk (10-5) has been a workhorse in net. His 3.27 goals-against average ranks fifth among league goalies.
“He has been absolutely outstanding. He has been a huge part of our success,” Wandler said. “He has been on a roll and you have to go with the hot goalie.”
A number of Merchants have taken turns lighting the lamp. Four players – Ryan Harrison, Alex Hawirko, Jamie Umbach and Matt Bowles – have potted 10 or more goals this season. Hawirko’s 14 in 15 games leads the team.
Harrison is the top point producer with 33 in 20 games. His 23 assists are tied for the second-highest total in the league.
The Merchants have also received contributions from Casey Reid (15 assists, 19 points), A.J. Yariwon (12 points) and Kurtis Watts (10 assists).
“I wouldn’t say we have a No. 1 and No. 2 line. Our offence has really been spread around fairly evenly,” Wandler said. “We’ve also had a lot of offence on our back end from Dan Rombough (11 points) and Jared Kwasney (12 points).”
Injuries forced Wandler to shuffle his line-up as the wins mounted.
“We’ve had some guys really step up and come into their own during this streak and it just shows the depth we have on this club,” Wandler said. “I would never say they are exceeding expectations because we expected it from them.”
Recent newcomers Blair Maluch (5-2-7 in four games) and Taylor Wiebe (one assist, 14 PIM in two games) have given the offence a boost.
“Blair Maluch has played above and beyond what we expected from him. We also added a little bit of size and grit with Taylor Wiebe. They’ve been a couple of nice additions to our team and the kids have fed off that,” Wandler said.
Maluch tallied twice and had one assist in Sunday’s 8-5 win over the Beverly Warriors (13-7-1) at Londonderry Arena.
Harrison and Reid registered one goal and three assists apiece and Kwasney, Rombough, Bowles and Umbach notched singles. Kwasney’s power play marker with 48 seconds left in the opening period tied it at two.
Maluch’s first of two goals in the second knotted it at 4-4. Bowles and Maluch on the power play ended the period. Reid made it 7-4 halfway through the third.
Two of the five goals against Pawlenchuk were on the power play.
“We came out a little bit flat and they scored a couple of quick ones on us. That’s when the boys realized that just because we were on a six game winning streak nobody in this league is going to hand us two points. They decided enough was enough and they picked it up,” Wandler said. “They’re a very talented club, but we capitalized on some of their mistakes and the boys played their roles well.”
The Merchants have a big game on tap Friday against the first-place Spruce Grove Regals (18-2-3) at 7:30 p.m. at Grant Fuhr Arena. The defending league champions are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Jets (12-8) in Spruce Grove.
“We just have to come out prepared and continue to play the way we’re playing. We also have to respect the fact they’re the top team in the league and we have to come out and play accordingly,” Wandler said. “We have skill and the ability and the character on our club to beat any team on any given night, assuming that we come out and play our game. At the same time any team can come out and beat us if we’re not on the top of our game.”
The next home game is Sunday versus the Wetaskiwin Icemen (13-9) at 8 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
