The St. Albert Merchants are betting on winning the jackpot after last season’s record windfall.
“We’ll be pretty strong again this year,” said Blair Macuch, a returning centre from the 45-11-1 Money Men. “We want the league and provincials pretty bad this year after coming so close last year.”
Fifteen players remain from the Founders Cup finalists in the Capital Junior B Hockey League and fourth-place provincial finishers.
“Basically, it’s pretty much the same team. With the over-agers (four 21-year-olds) leaving and a couple of new guys coming in we’ll be pretty similar to last year,” said Macuch, a third-year Merchant who produced 14 goals and 33 points in 36 games last season.
In last weekend’s debut, the Merchants beat the North Edmonton Red Wings 5-3 at Akinsdale Arena and blasted the Morinville Jets 9-3 at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
“We were pumped to start off the season,” Macuch said. “We played great.”
The Merchants were on fire in the first frame against the Red Wings (0-2) with three goals on 14 shots as Mitch McNamara and newcomer Andrew Clark scored on the power play and Mike Roeleveld lit the lamp.
Casey Reid struck shorthanded in the second to make it 4-1. In the third, with the Merchants leading by one, Josh Jewell netted the insurance marker.
Macuch and Reid finished with two assists apiece.
Shots were 32-27 for the home team as the Red Wings capitalized twice with the man advantage. Ethan Maertens-Poole, a first-year Merchant, was in net.
“We had a good start,” Macuch said. “The team played well together.”
Nine players found the back of the net and 14 Merchants were credited with points against the Jets (1-1). Brent McGugan, Reid (power play) and Jewell tallied in the first, Thomas Rotundo, McNamara and Jordan MacPhee (power play) scored in the second and Roeleveld, Jared Kwasney and Braeden Farge, another fresh face in the line-up, closed out in the third after a shorthanded effort by the Jets.
The Merchants posted period leads of 3-1 and 6-2.
“We always get pretty fired up whenever we play against Morinville. We’re pretty big rivals,” Macuch said. “We really wanted to beat them pretty bad so we gave it our all.”
Macuch collected four assists while skating on a line with Rotundo and Roeleveld, who sat out last season with an injury after a strong campaign with the 2012/13 CJHL semifinalists.
Clark had four helpers and Farge and Roeleveld added two apiece.
The shot count was 35-30 for the visitors. Maertens-Poole drew the start and picked up an assist on Farge’s goal.
The teams combined for 76 penalty minutes as the third period deteriorated into a chippy affair. The Jets, the CJHL’s most penalized team the last two seasons, were assessed 47 minutes on 20 infractions overall.
“We just tried to keep playing our game and we didn’t try to get into any of Morinville’s stuff. We just kept going,” said Macuch, 20, an EPCOR employee when he’s not living the dream with the Merchants.
ICE CHIPS: Friday’s score against the Edmonton Royals (1-1) at Akinsdale Arena was unavailable at press time.
Sunday’s game against the Edmonton Mustangs (2-0) starts at 8 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.
