Slash at home
Sunday the St. Albert Slash tie the bow on the midget AAA team’s first-place finish in the Alberta Female Hockey League.
Puck drop is 8:15 p.m. against the Red Deer Chiefs (9-17-3) at Go Auto Arena.
The Slash (25-3-1) are coming off last weekend’s 4-1 loss to Calgary Fire (18-8-3) that ended a 12-game winning streak on home ice.
The two-time Esso Cup national champions are hosting the Final Frozen Four provincials March 22 to 24.
Midget AA games
The last weekend before the playoffs in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League includes games for both St. Albert teams.
The Blues (14-13-4) are in Wainwright today to play the Polar Kings (22-7-1) at 5:30 p.m.
Sunday the St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders (25-4-2) host the Sherwood Park Oilers (15-10-5) at 8 p.m. at Mark Messier Arena.
The Crusaders, 10-1 in 2019, are ranked first overall in the 23-team NAMHL as the top Besa division team in the metro conference.
The Blues, 4-2 in February, are tied for third in the Besa standings.
The top-10 NAMHL scorers include Brady Harroun and Brett Reiter of the Blues with 42 and 41 points, respectively. Harroun is the team leader in goals with 22.
The Crusaders are led by Ronin Pusch’s 36 points and Maddux Nollski’s 24 goals and 35 points.
Cole Crozier (11-4-1, 1.94 GAA, two shutouts) and Evan Hergott (14-0-1, 2.07 GAA, two shutouts) of the Crusaders are among the top NAMHL netminders.
REM 15AA Royals
The Rural & Edmonton Midget 15AA Hockey League playoffs are underway for the St. Albert Royals.
In the blue pool division, the Royals won Sunday’s opener 5-3 against the Maple leafs (14-12-4) in St. Albert and today’s game against the host Red Deer Chiefs (14-14-2) starts at 5 p.m.
The four-team round robin for the Royals ends Thursday against the SPKAC Senators (19-10-1) at 8:15 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
The top two teams in the blue and red pools advance to the best-of-five semifinals.
The Royals (23-3-4) finished second behind the Hockey Central Panthers (24-1-5) in the league standings.
Last year the Royals lost the best-of-five final in three games to the Panthers.
Owen Bourque (8-30-38), Luke Aston (21-15-36), Nico Gallo (16-19-35) and Brydon Foster (15-19-34) led the way offensively for the Royals this season.
Jack Robinson (11-2-3, 1.73 GAA, two shutouts) ranked second and Ethan Weir (12-1-1, 2.02 GAA, one shutout) was third in goals-against averages.
