The St. Albert Steel are hot stuff with four wins in six games to kick off the season.
"I can't remember in past years us having a start like this before," said captain Mike Giese, the last player remaining from the Steel's 2007/08 debut in St. Albert. "It's definitely a positive thing and I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out."
The Steel are averaging a second-best 4.20 goals per game in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. However, their goals-against average is a disconcerting 3.30.
"You can tell there is a ton of potential in the room," Giese said. "We've got to keep working hard. Everybody knows what they've got to do for us to be successful."
Last weekend the Steel showed their mettle during a three-game swing through southern Alberta. They rebounded from a sloppy 6-3 loss to the south division-leading Okotoks Oilers (4-1) with wins of 4-3 in overtime against the Canmore Eagles (1-3-0-2) and 6-2 against the Calgary Canucks (1-4).
"Overall we're pretty happy with the way the weekend went," Giese said. "Obviously we would've liked to come out with six points rather than four. We had a little bit of a tough one Friday in Okotoks [gave up two goals on four shots before the three-minute mark]. We were running around a bit in the D zone, stuff like that, but as the weekend progressed we tightened up our D zone and started playing more physical in our end, which resulted in scoring chances at the other end."
In Canmore, Taylor Fraser's OT winner capped off a spirited Steel comeback from a 3-1 deficit.
"It was a pretty exciting game, especially tying it up late to go into overtime. Anytime you can do that it builds team morale," Giese said.
Reed Linaker's fourth goal in five games forced the extra period with 28 seconds left in regulation time and goalie Rhys Hadfield (30 saves) on the bench for the extra attacker.
"I was lined up at the top of the circle and [Derek] Bacon and Fraser were fighting for the puck. There was a big scramble and the puck came out and I just one-timed it in. I don't really know where it went in. There were a lot of guys in front and it just squeaked through," Linaker said. "It was a big goal for us and T finished it off in overtime."
After pulling victory from the jaws of defeat, the Steel finished off the weekend in grand style against the Canucks.
"We took that momentum from the game in Canmore into the game in Calgary on Sunday and everything worked out great for us," Giese said.
The second goal in two games by the scrappy centre was not only the game winner in Calgary, it also equalled last season's output, when he went 2-9-11 in 50 games. His career totals with the Steel are 18-25-43 in 161 games.
"Last year was a little bit of a tough season for me offensively so to get those goals off my chest early is definitely nice," said Giese, who found his groove on a line with Tyler Parks and Bacon in the last two games of the road trip.
Prior to the season opener, Giese was awarded the captain's crest. He and forward Spencer Pommells are the only 20-year-olds on the Steel.
"It's a huge role to play on the team. I've been here for four years now and obviously I'm going to be looked at as a leader this year and I'm definitely ready to step up and take on that responsibility. It's exciting for sure," said Giese, a midget AAA product of the KC Pats who is 18 games away from tying Bryce Williamson's record for the most games played in Steel history.
Canada West tryouts
Tonight the Steel host the Olds Grizzlys (3-1) at 7 p.m. at Performance Arena. Monday they travel to Fort McMurray to play the Oil Barons (4-2) without the services of Linaker. The all-star centre is among 11 AJHL players, including St. Albert product Craig Bokenfohr, a defenceman with the Camrose Kodiaks, at the evaluation camp in Penticton, B.C. Also represented are the B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Superior International junior A leagues. The tryout roster consists of four goalies, 12 defencemen and 25 forwards.
The Canada West line-up for the World Junior A Challenge, Nov. 8 to 14 in Penticton, will be finalized in late October.
"It's a huge honour to be invited. Anytime you get to try and represent your country it's obviously a pretty cool experience. I've never had the experience before so hopefully I can go and make the team and go from there," Linaker said. "I'm going there with the mindset that nothing is guaranteed so I'm going to work hard and do the stuff I do well and hopefully that's enough for the coaching staff."
Linaker, 18, was the AJHL's leading point producer as of Thursday, with 12 in six games. Last weekend the midget AAA product of the Maple Leafs racked up six assists and seven points.
"It's a good accomplishment but it's still early in the season," said the third-highest scorer in Steel history with 133 points in 113 games. "It's been going good so far. I enjoy playing with Fraser. He's having a great year so far too. I've also started playing with [Ryan] Berlin, a young guy, and he has shown some promise too. Hopefully we keep that chemistry going throughout the season and it leads to better things."
ICE CHIPS: The Steel play three games in four days, starting Wednesday at home against the Sherwood Park Crusaders (4-1-0-1) at 7 p.m. As part of the AJHL Showcase event in Spruce Grove, the Steel battle the Calgary Mustangs (1-4) Thursday at 5 p.m. and the Grizzlys at noon Saturday at the Tri-Leisure Centre.
