The St. Albert Crude are gushing over the breakout season by the junior B Tier I lacrosse team.
Ten wins in 13 games, including a six-game winning streak, is heady stuff for the Crude after losing records of 7-13 last year, 6-13-1 in 2017, 3-17 in 2016 and 8-13 in 2015.
“It’s very exciting,” said captain Jacob Fodchuk, prior to Wednesday’s practice at Akinsdale Arena. “For the past few years the Crude hasn’t been very good, we’ve dropped out of the playoffs usually in the first or second round, but this year we can go really far and make it all the way to the Founders’ Cup.
“Everybody is on board this year.”
The Crude are pumped over the prospects of playing meaningful games when it matters the most with seven games left until the playoffs to determine the Alberta rep at the Canadian Lacrosse Association championship at Winnipeg in August.
“It starts at practice. The entire team needs to be here to run our plays on defence and offence,” Fodchuk said. “We’re very positive right now. There is no negative energy in the room and everyone is lifting each other up so that’s why we're on a high right now.”
The last time the Crude looked this good was 2013 as the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League’s north division playoff winners and provincial finalists for the first time in team history during a 4-5 post-season run after posting a franchise-best 14-5-1 record in the regular season.
The 2014 Crude were seeded first in the playoffs at 15-4-1, but bowed out in the north semifinals.
“This my third year (on the Crude) and I haven’t been on a team like this yet, a winning team, so it's nice to be a part of it,” said scoring threat Brock McIntyre. “I was pretty confident we could be that team. I had high hopes at the beginning. We had a really good draft this year (of midget north players). It’s given us a lot more strength.
“We have offence and defence this year, which is really nice.”
Everybody is singing from the same songsheet while making noise as championship contenders.
“The team really bonded together this year. It’s probably the closest team I’ve ever been on. Everyone is pulling together andf it's working,” said Guerin Nollski, a third-year Crude player. “We’re trying to keep our momentum up and keep doing what we're doing and get better every game."
Everything was clicking during a stretch of eight wins in nine games.
“The past six games we’ve scored 12 goals (once) or 13 (five times) so our offence is really pulling us through as well as our defence with seven or less the past five games. Our goaltenders (Jace Simington-Lesanko and Kyle Schmidt) are amazing this year. They're coming up with a lot of big stops in games and that really boosts our morale,” said Fodchuk, a defender in his third year with the Crude.
There is no quit in the Crude, according to Nollski.
“When we get up on teams we're not letting down. We’re putting the foot on the throat and not letting up,” said the offensive attacker who can also play defence. “We’re mostly outworking teams and we also have a lot of skill on this team and we're using it. In past years sometimes we’ve wasted it, but this year everything is being used.”
The season-defining moment for the Crude was the 11-6 lid-lifter against the Red Deer Rampage on the road.
“Red Deer has been a very good team every year and that very first game getting that first win it was like, hey, we’ve got something special here,” said Fodchuk, 18, who hails from Spruce Grove.
The Crude (10-3, 142 GF/97 GA) and Fort Saskatchewan Rebels (10-3-1, 143 GF/90 GA) are waging a spirited battle for top spot in the north, one of four divisions in the 15-team RMLL. The overall leader is the Calgary Shamrocks (12-1), last year’s provincial champions and fifth-place finishers at the Founders’ Cup.
“We would like to at least finish first in the north to get that bye in the first round of the playoffs. That would be ideal, but first in the league is definitely our goal,” McIntyre said. “Best record at home is our main goal right now. We want to get as many wins at home as we can.”
The Crude are 4-2 at Akinsdale Arena, which will be renamed Jarome Iginla Arena during a ceremony on Monday, Aug. 26, after the decisive 13-6 decision against the central division Calgary Chill (7-5-1) last weekend.
“It was one of the tougher games we had this year. We didn’t expect it to be that score, but we ended playing the best game we played all year and it got us that big win. We performed really well,” said McIntyre, who piled up eight points for a league-high 78, one more than Markus Fouillard of the Rebels.
McIntyre, 19 also tallied twice on the power play for 32 goals and is tied for second in the north behind Fouillard’s 40 markers
The Sturgeon Composite High School graduate is on pace to surpass lofty single-season totals by a pair of Crude alumni, Erik Turner’s 90 points (43-47) in 13 games in 2013 and Cody Stannard’s 89 points (37-52) in 2014.
“The biggest part of my success is the offence around me,” McIntyre said. “Having that help on offence helps me get those assists and goals."
Mathieu Gautier is third in the north with 55 points and Nollski is tied for seventh with 40.
Nollski and Gautier, a first-year Crude standout, have also racked up 28 and 25 goals, respectively.
Offensive contributors include Jorden McCuaig’s 14 goals and 27 points and Adam Hawrelak’s 10 goals and 25 points.
“Our offence has really good vision and we can find each other really easy. We have good chemistry out the front gate,” said McIntyre, a Fort Saskatchewan lacrosse product.
Nollski, 18, credits a diverse attack for the team's offensive success.
“We have a lot of different skills on this team and a lot of different things that are hard to defend,” said the Stony Plain resident. “We're pretty quick with fast players like Brock. As for myself, I’m not that fast, but I have a good shot.”
Nollski is a power-play specialist with 14 to lead all RMLL players after notching two of his four goals against the Chill with the man advantage.
“We’ve got some good power play guys that give me some good looks,” said Nollski, who’s claim to fame is being named after former NHL player Bill Guerin.
“I think he scored a hat trick or something close to when I was born and that’s what I was told.”
Today at 5 p.m. the Crude hosts the central division-leading Rockyview Silvertips (9-3) of Cochrane.
Sunday the Crude visits the north division Sherwood Park Outlaws (2-11) at 4 p.m.
The Crude also have big games on tap against the Rebels on July 2 at 7 p.m. in St. Albert and July 14 at 2 p.m. at JRC Arena to wrap up league play.
