Five players will represent the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres at the 26th annual Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League all-star game Jan. 9 at Go Auto Arena.
Defenceman Kyle Fulton, forwards’ Blake Sydlowski and Brady Nicholas and netminders’ Evan Fradette and Ryley Osland were named to the 23-man north lineup.
Fulton posted seven assists in 26 games, Sydlowski scored 17 goals and leads the Sabres in points with 35 in 26 games and Nicholas has eight goals and a team-high 25 assists in 20 games.
The north and south teams are both dressing three goalies and they will play one period each. They were chosen based on their goals-against averages and save percentages with a minimum 600 minutes played by Dec. 25.
Fradette is 10-1-3, with a 1.90 GAA, .924 save percentage and shares the AMBHL lead in shutouts with four. Osland is 8-3-1, with a 2.47 GAA and .901 save percentage.
The coaching staffs of the Sherwood Park Flyers (21-2-1) and Calgary Bisons (20-2-3) are in charge of the north and south teams.
The all-star game, sponsored by the Western Hockey League, is hosted by the Sabres.
Game time is 2:15 p.m. and admission is free.
Visit www.ambhl.ab.ca for the all-star rosters.
Meanwhile, the Sabres (18-4-4) resume league play Saturday against the Calgary Royals (7-14-3) at 4:15 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
In the nitro north division, the Sabres trail the first-place Flyers by three points but the Sherwood Park squad has two games in hand.
The Sabres are ranked fourth overall in the AMBHL standings. The Flyers, Bisons and Lethbridge Golden Hawks (21-3-1) are tied for first with 43 points apiece.
The St. Albert Merchants and Morinville Jets start off the New Year on the road Sunday in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The Merchants (15-10-2) visit the league-leading Edmonton Royals (22-5) at 8 p.m. at Confederation Arena and the Jets (12-14-1) travel to Wetaskiwin to play the Icemen (17-7-2) at 6:30 p.m.
The Merchants are two points back of third place in the west division and seven points separate the Money Men and the fifth-place Jets in the standings.
The Merchants’ record in December was 3-2 and the Jets finished 3-1-1.
The junior B rivals square-off Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The last win for the Jets was 7-1 over the Merchants on Dec. 13 in Morinville.
