Merchants slipping
The fourth loss in five games for the St. Albert Merchants was Sunday’s 5-1 setback against the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks at JRC Arena.It was 5-0 Hawks when Bryce Sturm scored his eighth goal of the season with 6:15 left in regulation time.
The Hawks (5-5) finished 3-for-8 on the power play as the Merchants were assessed 14 infractions for 71 minutes, compared to 12 for 43 minutes for the Hawks.
Shots were 40-26 for the Merchants as Brandon Boughen (three GA on 16 shots in 45 minutes) and Colton Iwaschuk (two GA on 10 shots in 15 minutes) shared netminding duties.
The Merchants (4-6) are 3-2 at Akinsdale Arena after Friday’s 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Royals (5-4).
Sturm and Matt Holzer notched goals in the first period.
The Royals made it 2-2 on the power play in the second and deposited the winner at 8:53 of the third.
The Merchants were outshot 18-5 in the last period and 45-16 overall with Boughen (1-4, 3.94 GAA) between the pipes.
The Merchants are back on the ice Friday against the host Beaumont Chiefs (8-1) at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday’s game time against the visiting Sherwood Park Knights (5-3-1) is 8 p.m.
Raiders tied up
A pair of ties against south division teams felt like two losses for the St. Albert Nektar Data Systems Raiders last weekend in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.The Raiders (4-2-2) surrendered the equalizer in both games in the third period while shorthanded.
The Red Deer Chiefs (5-2-1) struck with the man advantage 40 seconds into the last period in Saturday’s 2-2 draw.
The Chiefs also knotted the count at one with a power-play marker in the middle frame.
Mathew Rathbone tallied twice for the Raiders and captain Erik Boers assisted on both goals.
Shots were 22 apiece as Evan Fradette started his first game for the Raiders after returning from the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey league.
Sunday the Okotoks Oilers (4-2-2) rallied with two unanswered goals in the third, and the second with the man advantage made it 3-3 with 5:40 to play.
Robert Kincaid, midget 15 St. Albert Flyers’ affiliate Ethan Sundar (power play) and Eric Perneel replied for the Raiders.
Tye Pedersen and Matt Offenberger picked up two assists apiece.
Andreai Proctor-Ramirez (3-1-1, 2.45 GAA) was in net but shots on goal by Okotoks were not listed on the game sheet. The Raiders were credited with 37 shots.
The Raiders are tied for third place in the north division after going 1-1-2 in the last four games.
The Raiders are in Calgary this weekend for south division games against the Royals (5-3) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Stu Peppard Arena and the Northstars (4-3-1) at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Max Bell Arena.
Junior B Jets
Sunday’s game between the Morinville Jets and Wetaskiwin Icemen was postponed because of poor ice conditions at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.The Jets will host Wetaskiwin (5-2), the two-time defending Capital Junior B Hockey League champion, at a later date.
Tuesday the Jets (2-5-1) were scheduled to play the Sherwood Park Knights (5-3-1) in Morinville but the score was unavailable at press time.
The next game is Sunday versus the Edmonton Mustangs (7-3-1) at 7:30 p.m. in Morinville.
The first win after four losses, including three in regulation time, was Friday’s 6-4 decision against the Riggers (3-6-1) in Leduc.
Brett Dubuc’s third goal of the night and 10th of the season was slotted into an empty net.
The team’s leading scorer with 15 points also drew two assists.
Josh Mcrae made it 2-1 on the power play in the first and added three assists.
Dylan Mcfatridge also scored in the first as the Jets led 4-3 after 20 minutes.
Ryan Denton broke a 4-4 tie with 3:54 left in the third.
Shots were 39-20 for the Riggers as Luke Hall (2-2, 4.00 GAA) backstopped the Jets to victory.
Midget Elite Sharks
The Alberta Female Hockey League season started last weekend for the midget elite St. Albert Sharks with two games at Mark Messier Arena.Scores were 2-1 against the Red Deer Chiefs and 4-2 loss to the Sherwood Park Fury.
Regan Ackroyd (power play) and Katie Charko scored against the Chiefs as the Sharks registered 33 shots.
Layla Hood faced 18 shots as the Chiefs scored in the last minute of regulation time.
Libby Langenhahn potted both goals against the Fury.
Shots were 21-15 for the Sharks and Laney Pasemko was in net.
The 2018 provincial silver medallists skate Saturday against the North Central Impact at 2:30 p.m. in Leduc and Sunday against the Lloydminster Steelers at 10:30 a.m. in the Border City.
Bantam Elite Raiders
The first home game of the season for the bantam elite St. Albert Raiders is Saturday in the Alberta Female Hockey League.Puck drop is 3:30 p.m. against the Edmonton Pandas at Go Auto Arena.
The Raiders started off the season with road losses of 8-1 to Calgary Fire White and 1-0 to the Lloydminster Steelers last weekend.
Brooke Babyck connected on the power play and Ashtyn Berthiaume faced 32 shots against Calgary, the 2018 provincial champion.
Natalie Balog stopped 32 shots against the Steelers.
Sunday the Raiders are in Leduc to play the North Central Impact at 1:30 p.m.
Last season, Calgary (21-4-1) and the Raiders (18-6-2) were the top teams in their respective south and north divisions.
At provincials, the Raiders finished fourth and the Impact (15-10-1) lost the final to Calgary.
Bantam AAA Sabres
The St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres have two games on tap this weekend in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.Start times are 5:15 p.m. Saturday against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (5-2) at JRC Arena and 4:45 p.m. Sunday against the PAC Saints (1-6) at Grant Fuhr Arena.
The Sabres (1-5-1) are winless in four out of five games in October, after falling 3-1 to CAC Lehigh Cement (2-5-1) Friday at Callingwood Arena.
Liam Cochrane opened the scoring in the first frame with his fourth goal and team-high eighth point.
The Sabres outshot the CAC 46-30 with Luke Roberts (1-2, 4.09 GAA) between the pipes.
