The next game for the St. Albert Slash is April 17, after the host team for the Esso Cup bowed out in the playoffs to the Edmonton Thunder.
Saturday’s 2-1 loss in game four of the best-of-five north division final in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League sealed St. Albert’s fate.
“The girls took it very hard. They wanted to go into the Esso Cup as the Pacific champions and we certainly needed to win the north division, which would have equalled our highest achievement league-wise in franchise history,” said head coach Terry Sydor.
He believes the defeat will make the Slash stronger in the long run for next month’s national championship at Servus Credit Union Place.
“From these types of experiences we have to move forward. The break will be good, too. In a strange way it’s a good positive thing,” said Sydor. “You would like to be playing right up until then but it’s a grind and we have some girls who are banged up so we will have some time for them to get healthy and get strong.”
For the second game in a row the Slash scored the first goal and the Thunder potted the next two for identical 2-1 victories.
Karly Heffernan’s fifth goal and 10th point in six playoff games put the Slash on top during a first-period power play in game four at Performance Arena.
Caitlin Connell of the Thunder responded less than two minutes later with a power-play goal that squeezed past Slash netminder Emily Mitchell.
Late in period two Mikaeli Cavell potted the series winner.
The shot count was 27-20 as the Thunder outshot the Slash for the fourth game in a row.
Besides giving up the early lead in consecutive losses, another area the coaching staff believes affected the outcome of the series was the slight dip in production. The top three point leaders in league play — captain Melissa Kueber, Jessica Kampjes, and Heffernan — combined for five of the team’s six goals in the series.
“You need your big players to be big players in playoff games,” said Sydor. “Their efforts and abilities and skills created chances and we just weren’t able to capitalize on them.”
The Thunder will now play the Red Deer Chiefs in the league final. The winner will challenge the British Columbia champion to determine the Pacific rep for the April 17 to 23 Esso Cup.
The Thunder are the defending playoff champions and 2010 national bronze medallists.
