Midget AAA Slash
Nine returning players will lead the charge towards an Esso Cup three-peat for the St. Albert Ron Hodgson Slash.The roster consists of netminder Brianna Sank, Taylor Anker and Kiah Vail on defence and Jaden Bogden, Alexis Butz, Isabelle Lajoie, Allison Reich, Makenna Schuttler and Madison Willan as forwards from the first team in the 10-year history of the Canadian midget AAA female hockey championship to repeat.
Sank, Anker, Lajoie, Schuttler and Willan are also third-year players from the Slash’s inaugural Alberta Female Hockey League season as the first Alberta team to win the Esso Cup in 2017 while establishing the tournament record of seven wins and no losses.
The second pre-season tournament in three weekends for the Slash is the NAIT Blue Gold next weekend with games scheduled against Thompson Okanagan, Melville Prairie Fire and Vancouver Comets. The Slash beat the Comets twice in the Pacific Region playoff series to qualify for the Esso Cup.
Last weekend at the Calgary Firestarter tournament, the Slash posted wins of 3-0 against the Red Deer Chiefs, 8-1 against the Prince Albert Northern Bears, 10-2 against the Thompson Okanagan Lakers and 6-1 against the Rocky Mountain Raiders before losing 2-1 to the Lloydminster Steelers in the final.
League play starts with two games on Oct. 6 against the Raiders at 11:45 a.m. and Calgary Fire at 8:30 p.m. at Clare Drake Arena.
Last season the Slash finished 34-11-1 overall after going 38-4-1 the previous campaign.
Midget AAA Raiders
The St. Albert Nektar Data Systems Raiders are down to 20 players with the season opener a week away in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.The possibility also exists a couple of players could be coming back from junior auditions.
The current roster includes two returning forwards, Erik Boers and Carson Henry, plus defenceman Matt Offenberger and forward Logan McKinley of the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League champion St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders and six graduates of the 2017-18 midget 15 St. Albert Flyers, winners of the Sutter North Cup provincial qualifier in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League: netminder Ethan Barwick, defencemen Tye Pedersen, Tyson Kowaluk, Robert Kincaid and Taige Harding and forward Mathieu Gautier.
Tyson Greenway and Jaxon Dube are first-year midget forwards from the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres, the 2018 bantam AAA provincial finalists.
Another ex-Sabre is forward Ethan Whillans, who played for the Northern Alberta Xtreme Elite 15s last season.
The Raiders finished the pre-season with a record of 2-2-1 after Wednesday’s 4-1 win over the Leduc Oil Kings at Akinsdale Arena.
The Raiders are also hosting Leduc in next Saturday's regular-season debut at 8 p.m.
The pre-game ceremony will be dedicated to the memories of the St. Albert Raiders Hockey Club alumni killed in the Humboldt Broncos’ bus crash April 6 and will feature the raising of the Humboldt Strong banner and a memorial unveiling. Smitty Kingston will also perform his Humboldt Broncos’ tribute song Leave a Stick by the Door.
The timetable for the pre-game ceremony is expected to be finalized next week.
