Raiders results
The St. Albert Nektar Raiders shook off the hangover of winning the Mac’s Cup in Sunday’s 5-1 victory against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.The Raiders (13-9-4) pulled to within two points of the north division leaders as Michael Lovsin, an affiliate from the midget 15 PAC Saints, potted a pair in his first AMHL game.
The Raiders scored three times on 10 shots in the first period and never looked back.
Brad Adams, Tyson Kowaluk and an empty netter by Brady Nicholas also contributed to the bounce-back game after the Raiders lost 4-1 to the Calgary Royals (17-7-1) the day before at Akinsdale Arena.
Robert Kincaid and Mathew Rathbone added two assists apiece against the Rangers (15-10-2) at JRC Arena.
The shot count was 35-33 for the Rangers as Andreai Proctor-Ramirez (7-4-3, 2.77 GAA) backstopped the Raiders to victory after facing a game-high 40 shots by the Royals.
The Raiders managed 22 shots as Adams found the back of the net in the team’s first game since rallying to defeat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-3 in Tuesday’s final at the 41st annual Mac’s Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament in Calgary. Adams was the player of the game for the Raiders with one goal and two assists, while Nicholas, the playoff tournament MVP, broke a 3-3 tie with three minutes remaining and first team all-star Evan Fradette, the tournament MVP and top netminder award recipient, stood tall with 24 saves for his sixth win in six starts at the Mac’s. Fradette (5-4-1, 2.26 with the Raiders) was called up to the Portland Winterhawks.
Forward Kye Buchanan, who scored some big goals in the tournament, played his last game for the Raiders on Saturday before joining the Swift Current Broncos. The WHL team traded defenceman Noah King, the rights to netminder Matthew Davis and a conditional draft pick in the 2021 WHL bantam draft to the Spokane Chiefs in exchange for Buchanan, forward Carter Chorney and the rights for defenceman Devin Aubin.
This weekend the Raiders play the Canadian Athletic Club (11-7-6) Saturday at Bill Hunter Arena and the Grande Peace Storm (12-9-4) Sunday in Grande Prairie. Both teams are tied for third with games in hand on the second-place Raiders. The start times are 2:30 p.m.
Merchants reeling
It’s gone from bad to worse for the slumping St. Albert Merchants.The fourth loss in a row in regulation time was against the last-place team in the west division of the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The Spruce Grove Regals (6-24) potted three goals to close out the second period with a 4-2 lead and an empty netter with 12 seconds to play sealed the deal in Sunday’s 5-3 result against the Merchants at Grant Fuhr Arena.
The second of two goals by Christian Foote was a power-play effort to make it 2-1 Merchants three minutes into the second.
Kole Bryks also scored in the third and Matt Holzer chipped in with two assists.
Shots were 21-11 in the third and 44-36 overall for the Merchants with Colton Iwaschuk (4-6, 3.97 GAA) between the pipes.
Friday the Merchants (9-14-4) suffered their first shutout setback of the season, 6-0 against the North Edmonton Red Wings (20-5-2) at Akinsdale Arena.
The Red Wings peppered starter Brandon Boughen (5-12, 4.94 GAA) with 34 shots, including 21 for three goals in the opening period, before Iwaschuk stopped 15 of 16 shots in the last period.
All six goals, including four straight by Zach Eastcott, were notched at even strength.
The Merchants, outscored 29-9 in the last four games, are 0-4-1 since their last win, 4-3 over the Red Wings on Dec. 12 at Londonderry Arena.
Tonight at 8 p.m. the Merchants visit the Stony Plain Flyers (11-16-2) at Glenn Hall Centennial Arena.
The Merchants have two games in hand on the fifth-place Flyers as six teams make the playoffs.
The next home game is 8 p.m. Friday against the Beverly warriors (21-8).
Jets games
The Morinville Jets visit the North Edmonton Red Wings tonight in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.Puck drop is 8 p.m. at Londonderry Arena.
The third-place Jets (14-11-1) are one point ahead of the Edmonton Mustangs (13-14-2) with three games in hand.
The Red Wings (20-5-2) and Beverly Warriors (21-8) are tied for the division lead as the top two teams in the west receive first-round byes in the best-of-of three qualifying round.
The Jets, winless in two games, host the Wetaskiwin Icemen (18-6-2), the two-time defending CJHL champions, Friday at 8:30 p.m. and the Stony Plain Flyers (11-16-2) Sunday at 6 p.m. at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
The first game for the Jets after the Christmas break was Saturday’s 3-1 road loss to the Sherwood Park Knights (19-8-1).
The teams combined for 25 infractions for 72 penalty minutes.
In the middle frame, Josh Mcrae tied it at one on the power play and with 22 seconds left in the period the Knights capitalized with the man advantage.
The third goal for the Knights was deposited into an empty net.
Shots were 39-36 for the Jets in support of Colton Kucher (10-9, 3.46 GAA).
Sabres host CAC
The last game for the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres before the 41st annual John Reid Memorial Tournament is Sunday against CAC Lehigh Cement.Faceoff is 3:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The Sabres (6-12-4) were three points up on the CAC (6-17-7) with two games in hand for the fourth and last playoff berth in the nitro north division of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League before Tuesday’s game against the SSAC Southgate Lions (10-10-3) at Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre. The score was unavailable at press time.
The first game in the new year for the Sabres was Sunday’s 4-3 decision against the division-leading Sherwood Park Flyers (4-10).
The Sabres battled back from a three-goal deficit with Zakk Makeiff (power play) at 6:50, Liam Cochrane at 9:00, Michael Romeo (power play) at 12:03 and captain Levi Fesyk’s winner at 17:26 rallying the team to victory in Sherwood Park.
Shots were 10-4 for the Sabres in the third and 27-23 overall for the Flyers as Luke Roberts (4-3-2, 3.03.) backstopped the St. Albert side to its first win after going 0-3-1 since the 3-1 outcome against the CAC on Dec. 7.
Meanwhile, Cochrane and defenceman Andon Coles were selected to represent the Sabres at the AMBHL all-star game Saturday at 1 p.m. in Fort Saskatchewan.
Cochrane is the team’s point producer with 23 in 20 games and Coles leads all defencemen on the Sabres with five assists in 22 games.
Next week the Reid tournament is the main event in St. Albert with 16 teams competing.
In the Canadian Brewhouse division of the John Reid pool, the Sabres play Thursday against the Burnaby Winter Club at 10:45 a.m. and the Los Angeles Kings at 8 p.m. and Friday against the Yale Hockey Academy Lions of Abbotsford at 2:30 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
Visit www.johnreidmemorial.com for more information.
The tournament schedule is also listed in Scoreboard on page 43.
