Junior B results
The seventh victory in a row for the streaking St. Albert Merchants was deposited in Saturday’s rivalry game against the Morinville Jets.
The Merchants (12-5) racked up 50 shots in the 7-4 affair at Morinville Leisure Centre.
Stuart Dovey found the back of the net twice in the first period for his 15th and 16th goals, Bryce Sturm and Peter Corrigan tallied in the second and Cole Gupta, Marco Runco and Jack Langenhahn closed it out in the third.
The first of three goals this season by Bryn Soetart tied it at two with 48 seconds remaining in the opening period.
It was 4-2 when Soetart struck on the penalty kill with 5:58 left in the second and his third goal pulled the Jets to within 6-4 of the Merchants in the third.
Ryan Denton knotted the count at one at 4:02 of the first.
Josh Mcrae of the Jets finished with two assists while Corrigan and Ryan Cooper chipped in with a pair of helpers for the visitors.
The forward combination of Cooper, Sturm, Dovey are tied for fourth place in CJHL scoring with 32 points apiece.
Brett Akins (5-0, 4.05 GAA) faced 24 shots while Luke Hall (10 saves on 12 shots in 10 minutes) and Tanner Schnirer (33 saves) shared net time for the Jets.
The Merchants are now one point back of the second-place North Edmonton Red Wings (12-4-1) in the west division after their 10th win in 11 games.
Friday the Merchants host the Spruce Grove Regals (1-17) at Jarome Iginla Arena and Sunday’s match is against the Edmonton Mustangs (1-16) at Bill Hunter Arena. Game times are 8 p.m.
The Jets (3-14) are 1-7 at Landrex Arena and Saturday’s loss was also the second against the Merchants after falling 3-2 Sept. 27 in St. Albert.
Prior to the rematch with the Merchants, Morinville hockey product Jason Holland was honoured as the first inductee into the Sturgeon Hockey Club’s Hockey Walk of Fame.
The most valuable defenceman in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League with the 1992/93 provincial finalists St. Albert Eagle Raiders was a Memorial Cup winner with the 1994 and 1995 Kamloops Blazers and gold medallist with Team Canada at the 1996 World Junior Championship.
Selected in the second round, 38th overall, by the New York Islanders in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, Holland went to play 81 games with the Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings, as well as stints with their American Hockey League affiliates, and one playoff game with the 2000 Sabres. His NHL totals were four goals, nine points and 36 penalty minutes.
Holland spent the last seven years of his playing career in Germany before retiring after the 2011/12 season.
Meanwhile, the Jets ended a five-game losing skid in Sunday’s 3-1 outcome against the Strathcona Bruins (6-11-1) in Fultonvale.
Denton scored the second and assisted on goals by Josh Mcrae and Zach Mcrae in the third to erase a 1-0 deficit as Strathcona got on the board with 29 seconds left in the first.
Josh (9-14-23), Denton (9-6-15) and Zach (7-7-14) are the top three scorers on the Jets.
Shots were 42-23 for the Jets and Schnirer (2-4, 5.39 GAA) was between the pipes.
Tonight the Jets and Mustangs tangle at 8 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.
The Jets also play the Stony Plain Flyers (10-7-1) Friday at 8:30 p.m. at Glenn Hall Centennial Arena and the Red Wings at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Morinville.
Slash still perfect
The fifth shutout this season for the St. Albert Slash was also the midget AAA team’s 12th win without a loss in the Alberta Female Hockey League.
Holly Borrett stopped 12 shots and captain Ali Reich scored unassisted in Saturday’s 1-0 decision against Calgary Fire (6-5) at Father David Bauer Arena.
Reich sniped her team-high seventh goal and 11th point at 5:10 of the third period.
The Slash were whistled for two minutes and Calgary was penalized six times for 14 minutes, including three infractions for eight minutes after Reich's goal.
The Slash directed 18 shots on net in support of Borrett (6-0, 0.86 GAA), the AFHL leader with three shutouts.
Upcoming for the three-time defending Esso Cup national champions are road games Friday against the Red Deer Chiefs (1-9-1) at 8 p.m. and Sunday against the Lloydminster Steelers (5-6-1) at 1 p.m.
Sabres win again
The St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres skated into Tuesday’s game as winners of four in a row in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
The score against the SAAC Lions (6-3-2) was unavailable at press time.
The last victory for the Sabres (10-3) was 6-0 against the KC Squires (6-7-1) Friday at Callingwood Twin Arenas.
Shots were 33 apiece as Adam Chin (4-1, 3.10 GAA) backstopped the Sabres to their sixth win in seven games.
Jacob Goudreau potted two while Jamie Visser, Tyden Redlick, Hayden Selin and Evan Sunday notched singles and Ben Belyea added two assists.
Saturday the Sabres visit the Lloydminster Bobcats (7-2-3) at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s game against the Squires starts at 5 p.m. at Jarome Iginla Arena.
Flyers tied up
The St. Albert Flyers let a win slip away in Saturday’s tie with the CNHA Blazers of Calgary in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.
Down by three goals, the south division Blazers (3-8-2) scored at even strength with 2:42 left in the second period and in the third capitalized on the penalty kill at the 3:50 mark and the 4-4 equalizer was slotted with 69 seconds to play at Jarome Iginla Arena.
Shots were 12-5 in the third for the Blazers and 38-36 overall for the Flyers with Teagan Kendrick (2-0-2, 2.50 GAA) in net.
The Flyers lit the lamp four times in a 4:22 minute span in the second as Liam Cochrane produced a pair and one assist, Adam Browlen, an affiliate, and Aidan Taylor also tallied and Liam Fitzgerald picked up two helpers.
The next game for the Flyers (5-4-5), fifth in the north standings, is Sunday against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (7-4) at 12:15 p.m. at JRC Arena.
Sharks coverage
The midget elite St. Albert Sharks picked up one point in two home games last weekend in the Alberta Female Hockey League.
The 2-1 shootout loss to the Edmonton Pandas (5-2-2) and 2-0 setback against Calgary Fire Red (6-2) dropped the Sharks (4-2-1) into a third place tie with the Peace Country Storm (4-4) with games hand on the rest of the north division leaders.
The Pandas scored the lone goal in the shootout after Justine Jereniuk tied it at one on the penalty kill in the second period as Regan Ackroyd drew the assist.
Both teams were credited with 21 shots in regulation time and the five-minute overtime period.
Natalie Balog (1-1, 1.32 GAA) was in net for both games and the opening goal by Calgary was scored on a penalty shot in the middle frame. Shots were 19-16 for Calgary.
In last year’s provincial final, Calgary defeated the Sharks 5-1 as the St. Albert team was awarded its second silver medal in as many years after losing the 2018 final 2-1 to Calgary Fire White.
Friday the Sharks travel to play the Red Deer Chiefs (4-1) at 8:15 p.m.
Sunday's game against the Sherwood Park Fury (1-5-1) goes at 8 p.m. at Mark Messier Arena.
