Midget AA final
The St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders had the Beaumont Braves pinned against the ropes Tuesday in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League final.The Crusaders posted wins of 2-0 Friday in Beaumont and 3-1 Sunday in St. Albert before entering the ring in game three of the best-of-five series. The score from Beaumont was unavailable at press time.
If needed, game four is 7:30 p.m. Friday at Go Auto Arena and game five is 8 p.m. Sunday at the Leduc Recreation Centre.
In the series opener, Noah Fayad and Logan McKinley potted goals on the power play and Shane Zilka (5-0-1, 1.47 GAA) posted the shutout with 33 saves, including 17 in the middle period with the Crusaders leading by one.
McKinley’s insurance marker was scored with 1:43 left in regulation time.
The Crusaders were credited with 34 shots.
Game two was tied at one when Cole Ridd deposited the winner with 3:05 remaining.
Rhys Mazur’s second goal of the night and seventh of the playoffs was slotted into an empty net with eight ticks on the clock.
Mazur led all playoff scorers with 17 points in 10 games.
Shots were 28-21 for the Braves as Spencer Hutson (3-1, 2.01 GAA) backstopped the Crusaders to victory.
Leading up to the final, the Crusaders downed the Braves 5-3 at provincials in Stony Plain.
In league play, the Metro conference Crusaders finished second in the Besa division at 20-9-3 and the Rural conference Braves placed first in the CanAccom division at 22-4-6.
In the playoffs, both teams were 6-1-1 entering the final.
The Crusaders have seven returnees from last year’s NAMHL finalists that also lost the provincial final.
Bantam AA final
The sixth loss in a row for the St. Albert Bears was Sunday’s season ender in the Rural Edmonton Bantam AA Hockey League final.The Lakeland Panthers won 5-0 at Akinsdale Arena after beating the Bears 3-1 in Friday’s series opener in the best-of-three playoff.
Shea Spofford scored and Regan assisted on the play in game one at Bonnyville.
The Panthers struck twice on the power play.
Shots were 50-18 in game one and 60-12 in game two for the Panthers with Ethan Weir between the pipes for the Bears.
The first of the six losses for the Bears was 7-0 to the Panthers in the provincial opener in Edmonton. The Bears finished 0-4 while the Panthers captured the championship.
In league play, the Panthers blanked the Bears 6-0 Oct. 28 in St. Albert.
The Metro conference Bears finished 6-2-1 in the playoffs after placing third in the red division at 17-10-5 and the Rural conference Panthers went 9-0 in the post-season after posting a league-best 30-1-1 record in the white division.
Alberta Cup teams
The following second-year bantam players from St. Albert, Sturgeon County and Morinville were selected to compete in the Alberta Cup, April 25 to 29 at Spruce Grove.Team Northwest: netminders Carson Ironside and Ethan Kadatz, defencemen Graeme Hampton, Marc Lajoie, Breck McKinley and Kaleb West and forwards Jaxon Dube, Tyson Greenway, Zach Ostapchuk and Ethan Sundar.
Team Edmonton Yellow: forwards Joel Amonson and Vincent Lamanna.
Team Edmonton Blue: forward Cody Laliberte.
The Alberta Cup features 160 of the top bantam 2003-aged male players in the province who are divided into eight zone teams for the tournament.
Players were picked based on their performances at last month’s zone camps throughout the province.
The Hockey Alberta program is also a significant step in the identification and evaluation process for U16 Team Alberta and is the final opportunity for Western Hockey League scouts to assess players eligible for next month’s bantam draft.
The Alberta Cup also provides coaches, therapists, equipment managers, administrator and officials the opportunity to be identified for potential positions at higher-level events like the Western Challenge, World U17 Hockey Challenge and Canada Winter Games.
