The St. Albert Steel performed like contenders instead of pretenders while humbling the host team for the 2011 Royal Bank Cup.
Backed by the all-star calibre netminding of Rhys Hadfield, the Steel battled the Camrose Kodiaks stride for stride through two scoreless periods before overpowering the perennial Alberta Junior Hockey League kingpins 5-1 Wednesday in front of only 258 fans at Performance Arena.
"We were right with them for the first two periods. We kept our spirits up and in the third we obviously generated a lot of offence and took control of the game," said Hadfield.
The man of the match was near flawless defensively while stopping 34 shots as the Steel (18-11-0-1) swept the two-game series with Camrose (19-13-0-3).
"Obviously this win means a lot. It shows that we can keep up with teams like them," Hadfield said.
The tide turned in period three when a blast by Spencer Pommells rattled off Baxter Niziol and into the Camrose net to open the scoring.
"It was a set play. I was supposed to throw it to Niziol going backdoor. It didn't exactly work out but it went off his skate and in," said Pommells, who teed up the puck from Brandon Fagerheim from a faceoff in Camrose territory at the 4:08 mark.
Less than five minutes after Niziol's third goal of the season, an electrifying breakaway by 16-year-old Ryan Berlin put the Steel up by two. The highlight-reel goal was Berlin's second in six games and eighth in 28 games.
The dangerous line combination of Reed Linaker, Taylor Fraser and Tanner Labbe combined to make it 3-0 on Fraser's team-leading 17th goal.
The Steel's fourth goal at 12:51 was Derek Bacon's fourth in six games and 15th overall.
Linaker's 14th goal closed out the scoring on the power play with 55 seconds remaining.
"Once we got that first one early in the third, things kind of opened up. They started taking more chances and we capitalized on our opportunities," said Pommells, one of three 20-year-olds on the Steel, compared to nine for Camrose. "That's a pretty good goalie [Dalyn Flette] over there too so it's good to see us put five on the board."
The Steel misfired offensively in the early going when Linaker was unable to convert a glorious chance. Later on the same shift, his set-up on a two-on-one lacked finish.
The Steel also came up short on a couple of power plays, including a five-on-three for 1:36 in the first half of the period.
Late in the middle frame, Linaker was robbed by a glorious sprawling glove save by Flette that left the Steel centre shaking his head in disbelief.
Shots were 15-12 in the third for the Steel and 35-31 overall for Camrose.
"We played pretty good defensively the first two periods. We were keeping the shots from the outside and that's what we want to work on," Pommells said of the Steel's 14th straight game in which they've been outshot, including the last 11 with Hadfield between the pipes.
"I didn't really have very many challenging shots. My defence played pretty good today," said Hadfield (18-10-1, 3.23 GAA).
Great goaltending
The team's MVP in the first half of the season was 3:01 away from his first shutout since midget AAA with the Southside Athletic Club when Nolan Marshall snuck the puck in on the last shot of the game by Camrose.
"I was right there. It was close. I only had one shot at the end and that was the goal," Hadfield said. "It was a broken play behind the net. It came off a shin pad, off a stick, maybe even off a nose, I don't even know, and then it banked off me and went in."
Hadfield, 19, was in a jovial mood during the post-game interview, in stark contrast to his two-handed stick swinging post bashing after the Drayton Valley Thunder capped off a three-goal comeback in overtime for a shocking 4-3 win Sunday in St. Albert.
"It wasn't just the individual goal at the end there, it was the collective game as a whole. It was a pretty frustrating game. Obviously I wanted to show the boys how mad I was so I took it out on my twig," said Hadfield, ranked second in the AJHL in wins, games played (29), shots (912) and saves (827) and was third in minutes played (1,578). "Obviously today was a better effort."
Blowing leads of 2-0 in the first and 3-1 in the second while outshot 47-21 by the last-place Thunder (6-23-0-5) was a major disappointment.
"That was a tough one. It was a game that you want to forget about but at the same time take lessons from it," said Pommells, who had a big spring in his step as one of the better Steel forwards against Camrose.
The bounce-back win proved the Steel's 3-2 overtime triumph in Camrose two weeks ago wasn't a fluke.
"It was a good game. We're all pretty happy right now, especially going into Fort Mac. We've had a bit of a rough time there but we should have a better outing this time," Hadfield said.
Road trip
The Steel play the third-place Oil Barons (23-10-0-1) tonight and Sunday afternoon. The team's road record is 6-6.
"We've got a decent rivalry with them. It should be a pretty good weekend," Pommels said. "We're going up there for four points. We can do it. We've shown we can play with a lot of teams."
In late September the Oil Barons made the Steel look like aluminium during a 12-4 throttling in Fort McMurray. The Steel were awful defensively while letting in six goals on 10 shots in the first stanza. After two periods they trailed 8-3. Hadfield and Chris Sharkey took turns in net, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Fort Mac is a tough place to play. We need to have the same intensity that we had today. We have to finish every check and capitalize on our opportunities and keep the games close, especially up there. You can't get down early and if you do it's going to be hard to get back into the game," Pommells said.
After stringing together a season-high four-game winning streak the Steel are 4-3-0-1.
"We've got to make sure we keep an even keel. I think we were a little bit too high there for awhile," said Pommells, the Steel's fourth-leading scorer with 31 points in 30 games.
ICE CHIPS: Matt Waseylenko, a midget AAA defenceman with the St. Albert Raiders, played a regular shift for Camrose as a call-up Wednesday.
Next weekend the Steel play three games in a row. They host the Sherwood Park Crusaders (17-13-0-4) Friday at 7 p.m. Tickets for Friday home games are $5. The Steel trail the sixth-place Crusaders by one point with four games in hand.
On Saturday the Steel visit Drayton Valley at 7:30 p.m. Sunday's matinée against the Oil Barons in St. Albert starts at 2:30 p.m. After the game, fans are invited to skate with the Steel. Helmets are mandatory.
The last game before the Christmas break is Dec. 22 against the second-place Bonnyville Pontiacs (21-6-0-7) at 7 p.m. in St. Albert.
