The St. Albert Steel are going in the opposite direction in the standings after losing to the worst team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
Instead of moving up the standings, Wednesday’s 7-3 shellacking by the Drayton Valley Thunder dropped the Steel (21-15-2) into the seventh and last playoff spot in the north division.
“Definitely it’s disappointing,” said defenceman Dane Olsen, prior to Thursday’s practice at Performance Arena. “The only good thing is that we’re back at it [Friday] night. We’ve got three road games this weekend so hopefully we can turn things around.”
Friday’s score against the Drumheller Dragons (15-20-6) was unavailable at press time.
Tonight the Steel play the Brooks Bandits (21-14-5) and Sunday they visit the Calgary Mustangs (15-27-1).
The Steel are 8-7-1 away from St. Albert after the loss in Drayton Valley. It marked the first of seven road games in 12 days. The next home game is Jan. 19 against the Lloydminster Bobcats at 7 p.m.
“We’re just as good on the road as we are at home,” Olsen said. “We’ll see what we’re made of on this long road trip.”
The fourth loss in six games started with a shorthanded marker by the Thunder (8-30-5) at 17:41 in the first frame. Period scores were 2-0 and 3-2. After the teams exchanged goals before the six-minute mark in the third, the Thunder struck three times to cement the victory.
“We got off to a slow start, and then made a bit of a push back in the second and got two goals to make it 3-2. In the third we didn’t keep that up and things kind of fell apart,” Olsen said.
The teams combined for 206 penalty minutes in the fight-filled affair. On the power play the Steel went 1-for-6 and the Thunder was 3-for-8.
“Guys were getting frustrated and the gloves came off as a result of that,” Olsen said.
The Steel were outshot 38-28. Rhys Hadfield (three GA on 13 shots) and Chris Sharkey (four GA on 25 shots) split time in net.
The Steel marksmen were Olsen, Spencer Pommells (14), Reed Linaker (29). Taylor Fraser assisted on all three goals.
Olsen’s first goal of the season was also his eighth point, equalling last season’s high by the third-year Steel veteran. In 134 career games, the pride of Island Lake has four goals, 18 assists and 104 PIM. The co-recipient of the 2009 Steel coach’s award has been paired with offensive threat Thomas Ward-Cardinal since mid-October. The two have been a steady fixture together on the blue line.
“I haven’t put up the numbers the way I would like to but it’s starting to come. Hopefully I can keep that up, but if not I will try and keep strong defensively,” said Olsen, 19. “As far as the defensive aspect of the game goes I feel I’ve gotten a lot better this season.”
