Crusaders win
The St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders survived a close call in the series opener against the Camrose Vikings In the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League final.
Tanvir Grewal’s unassisted goal with one second left in regulation time set the stage for Ethan Pool’s overtime winner as the Crusaders prevailed 3-2 Thursday at Akinsdale Arena.
Preston Leung and Joshua Cyr assisted on Pool’s marker.
The Vikings tallied twice during a 75-second span in the second period and Ronin Pusch’s league-leading 11th goal and 21st point at 6:12 of the third cued the comeback for the defending champions.
Shots were 13-4 in the third and 33-26 in total for the Crusaders as both teams were credited with three shots in OT.
Cole Crozier (4-0, 3.14 GAA) backstopped the Crusaders to their eighth playoff win in nine games while stopping 24 shots.
Game two in the best-of-five affair goes tonight in Camrose at 6 p.m. and game three is 7:15 p.m. Monday at Go Auto Arena.
If needed, game four is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Camrose and game five 9 p.m. Friday at Mark Messier Arena.
The Crusaders are 8-0-1 in the playoffs as the No. 1 team in the regular season at 26-4-2 while the Vikings are 5-3 in the post-season after finishing third in their division at 19-9-4.
In previous meetings between the finalists, the Vikings won 2-1 Nov. 4 in Camrose and at provincials last week the Crusaders posted victories of 5-1 in the round robin and 4-1 in the bronze-medal playoff.
All-Star Showcase
Tuesday the metro Edmonton high school basketball league hosts its All-Star Showcase event at Harry Ainlay.
Tipoff times are 5:30 p.m. for the women and 7:30 p.m. for the men.
The women’s all-star game features Mimi Sigue and Kamryn DeKlerk of the St. Albert Skyhawks and Kaitlyn Kluttig and Ella Stanley of the Paul Kane Blues on Team Dedrick and Team Green consists of Teá DeMong and Annacy Palmer of the Skyhawks and Bella Gaulden and Raeesa Cherniwchan of the Blues.
Jack MacPherson of the Paul Kane Blues is the lone St. Albert male all-star.
MacPherson, Stanley and DeMong were also named Metro Athletics basketball all-stars this season.
Meanwhile, Palmer was one of three Albertans among 20 participants at the final assessment camp for the 2019 Canadian U16 team last week in Edmonton. The U15 provincial team player in 2018 is a Grade 10 forward with the 30-5 Skyhawks, 4A provincial gold medallists and two-time defending metro Edmonton division one champions.
Football camps
The final Football Alberta U18 and U17 selection camps are underway at McMahon Stadium for several local players.
The 130 hopefuls born in 2002 and 2003 who made it out of the Super Weekend tryouts in January are vying for spots with Team Alberta U18 for the Football Canada Cup in July at Kingston, Ont., and the next best players born in 2003 will be selected to Team Alberta U17 for the Pacific Challenge in Maui in August.
The list of candidates from the St. Albert and Sturgeon teams are as follows:
Bellerose Bulldogs: quarterback Jayden Randall (2003), centre Tanner deChamplain (2002) and receivers Caleb Akerley (2003), Jordan Howe (2002) and Adam Rafat (2002).
Paul Kane Blues: quarterback Jacob King (2003).
St. Albert High Skyhawks: defensive back Jackson Ganton (2002) and inside linebackers Jared Granoski (2002) and Evan Selzler (2002).
Sturgeon Spirits: defensive back Kolby Phillips (2002).
Ganton and Selzler both have Team Alberta U17 experience.
