Junior B season
The opening weekend for the St. Albert Merchants in the Capital Junior B Hockey League continues Sunday against the Beverly Warriors.
Faceoff is 8 p.m. at Clareview Arena.
Beverly, the 2019 Founders Cup champions and fourth-place team at the junior B provincials, swept the Merchants in the best-of-five quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.
The Merchants are also winless in six games against Beverly after beating the Warriors in the league opener last season.
In the west division, the Merchants placed fourth at 14-19-5 (136 GF/167 GA) and Beverly was first at 29-9 (185 GF/109 GF).
The 36th season for the Merchants started with Friday’s home game against the Edmonton Mustangs and the score was unavailable at press time.
The Merchants skated into the weekend with a 23-man roster.
The next contest at Jarome Iginla Arena is Friday against the rival Morinville Jets at 8 p.m.
The Jets, third in the west at 20-16-2 (155 GF/136 GA), beat the Merchants four times last season by scores of 6-3 and 7-6 (OT) in St. Albert and 6-2 and 8-4 at Morinville.
Raiders preseason
The next exhibition for the St. Albert Nektar Raiders is Sunday in Leduc.
Puck drop is 1:30 p.m. against the Oil Kings.
The Raiders had three netminders, seven defencemen and 17 forwards in camp available for Wednesday’s 4-0 exhibition win against the Sherwood Park Kings at Jarome Iginla Arena.
The Raiders and Kings hook up again Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Sherwood Park.
The Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League regular season starts Oct. 5 for the 2019 provincial finalists against the KC Pats at 6:15 p.m. at Castledowns Arena and the home opener is Oct. 6 against the Southside Athletic Club at 2:20 p.m.
Flyers preseason
The John Ferguson Preseason Tournament is underway for the midget 15 St. Albert Flyers.
Game times are 7:30 p.m. tonight against the Leduc Oil Kings and 8 a.m. Sunday against the Maple Leafs at Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre, and 5:45 p.m. Monday against CAC United Cycle at Millwoods Arena.
The tournament opener was Tuesday’s 7-5 loss to the KC Centennials at Terwillegar.
The Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League regular season kicks off next weekend for the 2019 provincial champions against the Grande Peace Storm on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. at Go Auto Arena and Sunday against the PAC Saints at 7:30 p.m. at Jarome Iginla Arena.
