All eyes will be on the St. Albert Raiders at the inaugural Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League's showcase weekend in Strathmore.
Tonight the north division-leading Raiders (7-2-3) face off against the host UFA Bisons at 8:45 p.m. and Sunday they battle the Red Deer Chiefs at 5 p.m.
The showcase weekend, featuring 18 teams and 18 games, replaces the annual all-star game as the league's marquee event.
"This is a big weekend and we all know it. We have two big games and we're looking forward to it," said centre Matteo Gennaro. "There will also be lots of scouts there and lots of coaches and people that know the game well so it's a big opportunity for us."
In the south division the Bisons (5-7) are sixth and Red Deer (9-1-2) is first as the league's No. 1 team.
Red Deer, the 2012 Telus Cup national champion, swept the Raiders in the provincial final and last month edged the St. Albert squad 3-2 at Akinsdale Arena.
"We're really excited. It's going to be a great weekend of hockey. It's going to be two really good games," said right-winger Brett Smythe.
The Raiders are 5-1-1 after losing to Red Deer. Their last game was Sunday's 5-2 decision against the Lethbridge Pronghorns (6-5-1) in St. Albert.
"We're pretty focused going into this weekend," Smythe said. "How well we do really starts with this practice (Thursday afternoon) because it will carry over into the first game and that will carry over into the next game. We just want to keep it going and never take it off the gas pedal."
A five-goal outburst on 18 shots in period two, highlighted by Kyler Hehr's natural hat-trick, propelled the Raiders to victory.
"We had a really strong first period too. We had a lot of chances and that kind of carried over into the second and that's when we started finishing," Smythe said.
Raiders captain Tyler Mrkonjic opened the scoring six minutes into the second and Dan Huculak made it 5-1 on the power play with 29 seconds left in the period. Sebastian Auray and Tyler Dea had two assists apiece.
Hehr also assisted on Mrkonjic's goal. He ranks second in league scoring with 19 points in 12 games and is also second in goals with 10, including a league-high three game winners.
The Raiders outshot the visitors 43-21. In net was Mitch Martell (5-1-1, 1.43 GAA).
The penalty-filled contest included bouts involving Harrison Blayney in the first and Austin Dow in the second.
"You're not really looking to fight at this age level but it sparked the team and got us going. It helped us mesh together," Smythe said.
The day before the Southside Athletic Club (6-3-3) ended the Raiders' five-game unbeaten streak with a 2-1 win in St. Albert.
Jason Miller scored late in the game to spoil Jordan Papirny's shutout bid.
The Southside struck halfway through the second and added a power-play marker in the third against Martell.
Shots were 30-25 for the Raiders.
"We just couldn't really finish on the chances that we had that were good," Smythe said. "We had a good third period but we didn't have a strong first two and that's what hurt us."
The loss was the second on home ice this season.
"It was a good learning experience for us. We know that we have to play better than that in the future," said Smythe, 16.
His assist on Hehr's first goal Sunday was the ninth helper and 10th point for the former midget 15 St. Albert Flyer. Last season as a centreman he was the second-leading scorer in the minor midget AAA league's north conference with 30 goals and 69 points in 35 games with the provincial bronze medallists.
"It's a pretty big jump going from minor midget to major midget. The guys are a lot bigger, stronger and faster and it's a lot higher pace game. You've always got to be moving and keep your head up," said the Grade 11 Bellerose Composite High School student.
U16 Challenge Cup
The Raiders skated last weekend without Gennaro in the line-up because of Team Alberta commitments at the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup in Calgary.
In the final Alberta lost 9-3 to British Columbia to finish the four-team draw at 2-1-1.
"It was a real good tournament. There was obviously a ton of high skill there," Gennaro said. "We had lot of great coaches, I met a lot of new guys and it was overall really fun."
Gennaro, 15, was one of Alberta's assistant captains.
"They wanted me to take more of a leader role so I felt I had to not only be a leader on the ice but also off the ice and help the guys be accountable to not only themselves but each other," said the Grade 10 Bellerose student.
Despite not scoring a goal, Gennaro viewed the tournament as valuable experience.
"The one thing I took from it was in short term competition like that as a team you have to come together and bond. You can't have any weak links or anything that's out of the ordinary. You've really got to bond and gel as a team because if you don't you're obviously not going to do as well. B.C., for example, really came together and they ended up being the winners of that tournament," said Gennaro, who has six goals and four assists in 10 games in his first midget AAA campaign.
Netminder Pat Dea of the Flyers was on the team and also saw action in the final.
"We had a bad game. We weren't helping him out defensively. B.C. is a good team and they executed on their chances," Gennaro said.
