Seven wins in a row. Stellar goaltending. Clutch scoring. A shootout win over the best team in the country – the 37-1-1 Brooks Bandits – on the road.
This is the year of the Eagle.
The Canmore Eagles ran their win streak to seven with a pair of incredible victories last week, including a 3-2 shootout road win over the Brooks Bandits on Friday (Jan. 11), and a 5-2 home win over the Drayton Valley Thunder, Saturday (Jan. 12). Currently the hottest team in the league, the Eagles are putting memories of a poor 2012 behind them and now sit fifth in AJHL South Division standings.
Captain Riley Point scored the shootout winner against Brooks while goalie Cam Barnes sparkled between the pipes, putting forth one of the best games of his young career.
“We gutted out a character win. The character it took to win that was outstanding. Warriors. There’s no other way to explain it,” said head coach Andrew Milne. “I can’t single out one guy because so many were good. It was a great team game.”
Even though they were playing a team that had beaten them 16 times in a row, the Eagles had confidence going into the game and that made the difference.
“When you’re confident, you see things differently. You compete at a higher level.”
Milne said even when the club was struggling, he was confident he had a good hockey club, so he’s not surprised at the turnaround.
Against the Thunder, goaltender Ty Swabb made his return to the lineup after a long injury absence and had no rest. Drayton Valley fired 47 shots his way, but Swabb was sharp against the barrage. Zack Rassell led the team with a natural hat trick, the first scored by an Eagle since the 2008/2009 season when Kory Roy accomplished the feat.
“Swabb, he was outstanding tonight. That’s why we started the year 9-4-4 to some level,” Milne said.
The Eagles burst out to an early lead against the Thunder when Luke Simpson scored just past the five minute mark. Rassell then decided to put on a show, scoring three straight goals. The lanky centre and linemates Point and Alex Bechtold wreaked havoc in the Drayton Valley zone, forcing countless turnovers and Rassell proved to be the trigger man. His final goal of the period came on a partial breakaway, where he used a nifty move to freeze the Drayton Valley goalie.
“Alex is putting the fear of God into some of those d-men, and it’s causing them to turn the puck over,” Milne said.
Drayton Valley got two back in the second period and refused to quit. The well-coached team threw rubber at Swabb from all angles, but he refused to give up the lead. Rassell added an insurance marker to make it 4-2, and by the third period, with the Eagles in control, Carter Jensen potted the final marker for the 5-2 win.
With both goalies playing well, Milne said he’s got the situation a coach dreams about: two goalies trying to outshine one another for playing time.
“The perfect storm came together at the right time. Ty was chomping at the bit, Cam played a phenomenal couple games in a row. All of a sudden, you have every coaches’ dream: two goalies that are very good.”
The turnaround for Rassell is huge for the club as well. He led the team in scoring for the first month of the season, but slumped terribly in November and December and was actually a healthy scratch at one point in the season. The hat trick was the first of his AJHL career.
“It’s been a goal of mine for a while. Seems if I ever have two-goal games, I can never get the third. It was nice to get it, especially early in the second,” said Rassell.
His poor play early on was related to injury, he said.
“I had a high ankle sprain and I was slow. Then I couldn’t score. I felt like I was cursed. Once you finally get one goal, I got it before the Christmas break, then the flood gates open,” Rassell said.
“Our line has been clicking very well. Riley and I have been playing together for four years, so we have good chemistry. Alex comes in and we call him the beast for a reason. He just gets in the corners, bangs bodies and creates turnovers for Riley,” Rassell said.
The Eagles are on the road to face the Calgary Canucks, tonight (Jan. 17), Fort McMurray Oil Barons (Jan. 19) and Drumheller Dragons (Jan. 23), before returning home for a game Jan. 25 against Camrose at Alex Kaleta Arena.
