The last game for the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres before the John Reid Memorial Tournament is a biggie.
A victory over CAC Lehigh Cement on Sunday would go a long way to securing the fourth and final playoff spot in the nitro north division of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
Faceoff is 3:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
With 10 games remaining the Sabres (7-12-4) sit five points in front of the CAC (6-18-1) with two games in hand.
“It’s a big game because if we get two points with the win then we move up that much further in the standings. We gain that much more ground on the CAC and ground on the other teams, too,” said right-winger Liam Cochrane.
The Sabres are within striking distance of the third-place SSAC Southgate Lions (10-11-3) after Tuesday’s late-game 4-3 heroics over the Lions.
“We’ve got to treat it like any other game but we’ve got to do good,” said defenceman Andon Coles of the CAC contest. “To get more points that would be great. It would create some separation and maybe we can pick up another spot (in the standings).”
Positivity surrounds the Sabres after a negative 1-8-3 start to the season for the 2018 AMBHL provincial finalists with a roster of two returnees, Zakk Makeiff and captain Levi Fesyk, and eight first-year bantams.
“We had a little bit of a slow start but we’re doing good now. We’re getting good wins and playing good as a team,” Coles said. “We’re doing all the little things good right now. Our special teams have been good, our power play and penalty kill, and we’re just finishing.
“We’re doing lots of good stuff.”
The Sabres closed out a 2-4-1 December with a 1-1 draw against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (15-4-4) of the charger north division before starting off the new year with Sunday’s 4-3 decision against the host Sherwood Park Flyers (14-10), the top nitro team.
“That was a pretty cool game. We were down 3-0 until the third, but then Zakk put one in on the power play and we had some momentum and then we just put a few more in, “ said Cochrane, who potted the team’s second goal before Michael Romeo tied it on the power play at 12:03 and Fesyk slotted the winner at 17:26.
The Sabres outshot the Flyers 10-4 in the decisive period as Luke Roberts (4-3-2, 3.03 GAA) finished with a game-high 24 saves in the team’s first win after an 0-3-1 stretch since beating the CAC 3-1 on Dec. 7.
The Sabres saved the best for last against SSAC in the third as Ryan Arnold knotted it at three at 5:09 and Fesyk capitalized on the power play with barely a tick left on the game clock.
“We had some momentum going and then that game winner by Levi with 0.1 seconds left was insane. That was such a cool moment,” said Cochrane.
The top point producer on the Sabres with 25 in 21 games opened the scoring and Makeiff’s team-leading 12th goal made it 2-1 late in the first.
The Sabres, with three affiliates in the lineup, racked up 20 shots in the third compared to eight for SSAC. The winning goalie was Teagan Kendrick (3-9-2, 2.73 GAA) with 26 saves.
The result symbolized how the even-keeled Sabres have performed recently.
“When we score we get pumped and if we give up a goal we shake it off and go get the next one,” said Coles, who assisted on goals by Cochrane and Fesyk after helping set up Fesyk’s marker against the Flyers.
Coles and Cochrane are representing the Sabres at the AMBHL all-star game today in Fort Saskatchewan at 1 p.m. at JRC Arena.
“It’s exciting but we’ve just got to treat it like another game,” Coles said.
“There are lots of good players in the league so it’s going to be really cool to play with them,” Cochrane added.
Coles, 14, is the team’s top-scoring blueliner with seven assists.
“I had a little bit of a slow start but I’ve been picking it up and getting a couple of points and helping the boys and shooting pucks,” said the Grade 9 William D. Cuts student.
As for his strengths, “It’s my skating, my leadership and I can find guys and find lanes.”
Cochrane, 14, describes himself as a “setup man” with 16 assists to lead all Sabres.
“I’m just finishing on lots of plays,” said Cochrane, who skates alongside Makeiff and Fesyk.
“We’re a pretty good line right now. We have probably six goals I think in our last two games as a line. We’re just finding success,” said the Grade 9 Ecole Secondaire Saint Marguerite d’Youville student.
Upcoming for the Sabres is the heavily scouted Reid tournament and the 41st annual affair features 16 elite teams from across western North America. Last year’s tournament included more than 85 players who were selected in the 2018 Western Hockey League bantam draft.
“It’s super exciting. It’s a big opportunity for your hockey career,” Cochrane said.
The 42-game draw consists of four divisions divided into two pools to determine the playoff pairings in the A, B and C brackets.
Last year the Sabres qualified in the B playoff bracket after placing third in pool play and finished 2-3 overall.
Joining the Sabres as the AMBHL reps are the Rangers, Lloydminster Bobcats (16-3-4), Calgary Bisons (16-4-3), Red Deer Rebels (16-4-2), and Calgary Flames (15-5-4).
The Rink Hockey Academy Nationals of Winnipeg, Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox, Sask., Burnaby Winter Club Academy Bruins, Delta Hockey Academy Green, Yale Hockey Academy Lions of Abbotsford, B.C., St. George’s Saints of Vancouver, West Van Academy of Vancouver, Okanagan Hockey Academy of Edmonton, Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes are also competing.
“It’s really cool to play all those faraway teams and the whole community in St. Albert comes out to watch,” Cochrane said.
In pool play, the Sabres are in action Thursday against Burnaby at 10:45 a.m. and Los Angeles at 8 p.m. and Friday against Yale at 2:30 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
“We’ll probably look for the positives in each game. If we start off a little shaky, we’re just going to keep plugging away at it and be a good team and try put pucks on the net,” Cochrane said.
“We can’t get too nervous, you've got to have fun with it and trust your game and trust the team,” Coles added. “You have to treat it like any other game, do a bunch of little things right and just play smart and play fast.”
Visit www.johnreidmemorial.com for more information.
The tournament schedule is also listed in Scoreboard on page 32.
