Mountain View Colts 6, Coaldale Copperheads 5 — Final
The Mountain View Colts held off the Coaldale Copperheads 6-5 on Sunday afternoon at Coaldale Sportsplex, with Joseph Krukowski scoring a hat trick and Kobe Fujita matching him with three of his own for Coaldale in a back-and-forth, heavily penalized game.
Coaldale jumped out to a 2-0 lead on two goals from Kobe Fujita in the first period (3:25 and 8:25), both assisted by Eric Price. Mountain View stormed back in the second with two goals from Joseph Krukowski (8:28 and a power-play goal at 13:09), sandwiched around Fujita’s third goal of the period at 17:20, before Nate Smith and Blake Stoddard added power-play goals late to make it 4-3 Mountain View after two periods.
The third period was tight. Chase Stronge got Coaldale back within one at 2:54, and Krukowski completed his hat trick at 13:57 before Lucas Billings’s goal at 16:59 — tagged as the game-winner — made it 6-4. A fight broke out at 17:08 between Mountain View’s Mason Claeys and Coaldale’s Eric Price, both picking up fighting majors and game misconducts. Paul Vanden Elzen’s power-play goal with 1:40 left cut the final margin to 6-5, but Mountain View held on. Jaren Leaver made 22 saves on 27 shots for the win; Coaldale’s Cole Lavorato stopped 42 of 48 in the loss, facing 48 shots on the night.
Rocky Rams 1, Carstar Okotoks Bisons 7 — Final
The Carstar Okotoks Bisons beat the Rocky Rams 7-1 on Saturday night at Murray & Piper Arena behind a hat trick from Connor Chapman, in a game that saw Okotoks fire 77 shots on net — Rocky goaltender Maddyn McCrindle stopped 70 of them and was named the Rams’ team star of the game despite the loss.
Neither team scored in the first. Rocky’s Darren Strawberry actually opened the scoring at 7:22 of the second, but Okotoks answered with four straight goals — three of them on the power play — from Connor Chapman (twice), Zephyr Laplante, and Nathan Flanagan to take a 4-1 lead. Brayden Mullaly added a fifth Okotoks goal at 15:10 to make it 5-1 after forty minutes.
Okotoks added two more in the third from Seamus Garagan and Chapman’s third of the night to close out the 7-1 final. Despite being outshot 77-16, Rocky’s Maddyn McCrindle turned in a standout performance, stopping 70 shots; Okotoks’ Carson Jerome made 15 saves on 16 shots for the win.
High River Flyers 6, Rimbey Royals 1 — Final
The High River Flyers beat the Rimbey Royals 6-1 on Saturday night at Vern Poffenroth Memorial Arena, getting two goals apiece from Seth Coderre and Cohen Spencer while out-shooting Rimbey 43-48 — Rimbey actually held the edge in shots but couldn’t solve High River’s Erich Baxter.
Coderre opened the scoring at 8:38 of the first, assisted by Cohen Spencer, and Spencer returned the favour just over six minutes later to make it 2-0 after twenty minutes. The second period saw four goals: Rimbey’s Brayden Nicolas got the Royals on the board at 5:23, but High River answered with Jake Brennan’s insurance goal at 6:29 and Maddix Summerell at 12:35 to push the lead to 4-1 through forty minutes, a period that included a Rimbey goaltender change with Anden Bieganowski giving way to Valentino Elias Harson.
High River closed it out in the third with Coderre’s second of the night (5:55) and Spencer’s second (11:02) to make it 6-1 final. Erich Baxter turned aside 47 of 48 shots for the win, while Rimbey used a two-goalie tandem of Bieganowski (23/27) and Elias Harson (14/16) in the loss.
Agra Risk Wheatland Kings 3, Red Deer Vipers 2 — Final
The Agra Risk Wheatland Kings held off a late push from the Red Deer Vipers to win 3-2 on Saturday night at Servus Arena, getting goals from three different players and a 23-save performance from Evan McNair.
Charlie Goll opened the scoring for Wheatland at 9:25 of the first, assisted by Brayden Thurlow, and Thurlow struck himself just 45 seconds into the second to make it 2-0. Red Deer stayed quiet until the third, when the game turned frantic in the final minutes: Lenny Beddoes scored on the power play at 8:16 to get the Vipers on the board, but Wheatland’s Tripp McArthur restored the two-goal cushion with a power-play goal at 17:51. Red Deer’s Mason Hastings answered just 33 seconds later to cut it to 3-2, but Wheatland held on from there.
Red Deer pulled goaltender Brock Lott in the final minute for an extra attacker, with Lott going back in and out of the net twice in the closing seconds, but the Vipers couldn’t complete the comeback. Evan McNair made 23 saves on 25 shots for the win; Lott stopped 26 of 29 in the loss.
Airdrie Techmation Thunder 0, Sylvan Lake Wranglers 3 — Final
Ryder Cyrenne turned aside all 30 shots he faced as the Sylvan Lake Wranglers blanked the Airdrie Techmation Thunder 3-0 on Saturday night at Diamond Valley Pressure Services Arena, in a heavily penalized game that saw 73 combined penalty minutes.
Sylvan Lake struck twice in the first period: Brendon Harnack opened the scoring shorthanded just 1:31 in, assisted by Cody Wells, and Cooper Lawrence added a power-play insurance goal at 12:23 to make it 2-0 after twenty minutes. Neither team scored in the second, a period that featured a cluster of penalties including a 10-minute misconduct to Cooper Lawrence.
The third period saw a fight break out at 8:33 between Cooper Lawrence and Airdrie’s Blake Campbell, with Lawrence picking up a game misconduct for fighting to go with an aggressor minor. Liam Tennant capped the scoring for Sylvan Lake at 15:05, assisted by Bode Dakin, to close out the 3-0 shutout win. Airdrie’s Hudson Brett made 27 saves on 30 shots in the loss.
Mountain View Colts 5, Medicine Hat Cubs 4 — Final
The Mountain View Colts survived a wild, heavily penalized game against the Medicine Hat Cubs on Saturday night at Kinplex Arena, winning 5-4 in a contest that saw 101 combined penalty minutes and ended with Cubs goaltender Kayden Van Ham ejected for fighting.
Colby Gulliver opened the scoring for Medicine Hat just 5:41 into the game, but Mountain View answered twice before the period ended — Beau Van Vlaanderen at 6:21 and Nate Smith at 15:46 — to take a 2-1 lead after twenty minutes. The second period was a track meet: Jaxon Bohrn tied it for Medicine Hat at 2:45, Lucas Billings restored Mountain View’s lead at 11:13, and then the Cubs scored twice in 32 seconds — a power-play goal from Brennan Finke and one from Jesse Klimosko — to go up 4-3. Nate Smith’s second of the night at 16:15 tied it back up 4-4 heading to the third.
Sawyer Campbell’s goal at 11:01 of the third proved to be the game-winner. The game turned chaotic in the final minutes: at 14:01, a fight involving Medicine Hat goaltender Kayden Van Ham resulted in fighting and instigator penalties plus a hit-to-the-head major, ending his night with a game misconduct — Hudson Corbett came on in relief and stopped all 6 shots he faced to close it out. Mountain View finished 0-for-14 on an absurd number of power-play chances; Medicine Hat was 1-for-12.
William Steingart made 27 saves on 31 shots for the Mountain View win.
Cannex Cochrane Generals 3, Coaldale Copperheads 1 — Final
The Cannex Cochrane Generals held the Coaldale Copperheads off the scoreboard until the third period and left Coaldale Sportsplex with a 3-1 win on Saturday night, despite a heavily penalized affair that saw Coaldale’s Barrett Van Nistelrooy ejected with 36 penalty minutes on the night.
Neither team scored in the first, a period defined by a wild sequence of four penalties at the 12:42 mark that included a cross-check, a roughing minor, and a 10-minute misconduct all against Van Nistelrooy. Cochrane broke the scoreless tie in the second when Gairen Bona scored on the power play at 9:40, assisted by Evan Sine and Nolan Smith, to make it 1-0 after forty minutes — a period that also saw Van Nistelrooy hit with two more roughing-related penalties, including a game misconduct for a second misconduct of the night.
Coaldale’s Brett Hudey got the Copperheads on the board with a power-play goal just 5:05 into the third, but Cochrane answered twice — Carter Murphy at 10:45 and Alexander Devnich on the power play at 16:59 — to seal the 3-1 final. Shots were close throughout, with Cochrane holding a slight 28-27 edge for the game. Cochrane’s Owen Hall Chay made 26 saves on 27 shots for the win; Coaldale’s Brylin Noble stopped 25 of 28 in the loss.
Sylvan Lake Wranglers 6, Cannex Cochrane Generals 2 — Final
The Sylvan Lake Wranglers opened their regular season with a 6-2 win over the Cannex Cochrane Generals on Friday night at Diamond Valley Pressure Services Arena, getting two power-play goals from Karson Ledieu in the first period and never trailing.
Ledieu opened the scoring at 8:11 on the power play and struck again at 17:02, also on the man advantage, to put Sylvan Lake up 2-0 after twenty minutes. Cochrane’s Lincoln Pidsadowski got the Generals on the board with 22 seconds left in the period, assisted by Nathan Sherriffs, to make it 2-1.
The Wranglers pulled away in the second on goals from Cody Wells (4:07) and Ledieu’s helper on Brendon Harnack’s goal at 9:16, extending the lead to 4-1. Cochrane’s Nolan Smith cut into the deficit just 29 seconds into the third, but Sylvan Lake answered with Bode Dakin’s goal at 6:20 and a shorthanded marker from Tucker Woroschuk with eight seconds left to close out the 6-2 final.
The game was heavily penalized on both sides — Sylvan Lake finished 2-for-8 on the power play while Cochrane went 0-for-7. Wranglers goaltender Marlo DeRosa made 39 saves on 41 shots for the win; Cochrane’s Isaias Maddigan stopped 41 of 46.
Red Deer Vipers 7, Carstar Okotoks Bisons 2 — Final
The Red Deer Vipers opened their season with a 7-2 win over the Carstar Okotoks Bisons on Friday night at Murray & Piper Arena, scoring the final five goals of the game after the teams traded shorthanded and even-strength markers to open things up.
Okotoks struck first on a shorthanded goal from Grayson Graves at 5:15, but Red Deer’s Mason Hammerback tied it at 9:08. Noah Provan put Okotoks back up 2-1 at 9:31 before Brady Leroux answered for Red Deer at 12:50 to make it 2-2 after twenty minutes.
Red Deer took the lead for good in the second on power-play goals from Xaiden Bignell (1:16) and Mason Hastings (8:54), making it 4-2 through forty minutes. The Vipers added three more in the third — Leroux’s second of the night (13:17), Cash Christensen (15:37), and Dawson Weigum (16:25) — to close out the 7-2 final. Red Deer out-shot Okotoks 36-19 for the game.
Cole McLean made 17 saves on 19 shots for the win in Red Deer’s net; Okotoks’ Derrick Ford stopped 29 of 36 in the loss.
Rimbey Royals 1, Agra Risk Wheatland Kings 7 — Final
The Agra Risk Wheatland Kings opened their season with a 7-1 win over the Rimbey Royals on Friday night at Strathmore Family Centre Arena, out-shooting Rimbey 46-21 and scoring in all three periods.
Tanner Phillips opened the scoring at 5:56 of the first, and Charlie Goll’s goal at 9:34 — tagged as the game-winner — made it 2-0 after twenty minutes. Luke Nottveit’s insurance goal at 8:35 of the second extended the lead before Phillips struck again at 15:02 to make it 4-0 through two periods.
Rimbey’s lone goal came from Zachary Brayden-Morris just 2:10 into the third. Wheatland answered with three more — a power-play goal from Tripp McArthur at 6:56, Goll’s second of the night at 10:14, and another power-play marker from Adam Moore at 11:02 — to close out the 7-1 final. Wheatland finished 2-for-3 on the power play; Rimbey was held without a man-advantage goal on five chances.
Connor White made 20 saves on 21 shots for the win; Rimbey’s Valentino Elias Harson stopped 39 of 46 in the loss.
The Airdrie Techmation Thunder blew open their season opener with a 13-2 rout of the Rocky Rams on Friday night at Ron Ebbesen Arena, with Tyson Sandhu scoring four goals and adding three assists in a seven-point night.
Rocky actually struck first, with Xzayden Beaverbones scoring on the power play at 4:16 of the first. Airdrie answered with two from Ty Brander (5:17 and 7:25) before Rocky’s Brawn McKay tied it 2-2 at 18:20. Sandhu opened his night with a goal just 16 seconds later to make it 3-2 Airdrie after twenty minutes.
Airdrie took full control in the second, getting goals from Nathan Cole (twice), Zachery Hall (on the power play), and Sandhu again to push the score to 7-2. The third period was more of the same: Justin Campbell, Hall, Kaelan Weisbeck, and two more from Sandhu — including a power-play goal — rounded out the scoring for a 13-2 final. Airdrie out-shot Rocky 53-25 for the game.
Lucas Veal played the full 60 minutes for Airdrie, stopping 23 of 25 shots for the win. Rocky used a two-goalie tandem of Maddyn McCrindle (25/31) and Jett Wagner (15/22) in the loss.
High River Flyers 3, Medicine Hat Cubs 5 — Final
The Medicine Hat Cubs opened their regular-season home schedule with a 5-3 win over the High River Flyers on Friday night at Kinplex Arena, getting a two-goal night from Brodie Heimbecker and out-shooting the Flyers 49-23.
Colby Gulliver opened the scoring just 59 seconds into the game, assisted by Brennan Finke, before High River’s Beck O’Neill tied it at 13:00 to make it 1-1 after the first. Medicine Hat took the lead for good in the second on goals from Randen Collier (5:27) and Heimbecker (8:19), making it 3-1 through forty minutes.
The third period saw both teams trade chances. Cole Fisher’s goal at 1:42 — tagged as the game-winner — pushed the lead to 4-1, but High River answered with two of its own from Emerett Norleen (5:19) and Jake Brennan (8:49) to cut the deficit to 4-3. Heimbecker’s second of the night at 16:29 restored a two-goal cushion and sealed the 5-3 final.
Kayden Van Ham made 20 saves on 23 shots for the win in Medicine Hat’s net; High River’s Erich Baxter stopped 44 of 49 in the loss. Medicine Hat forward Brennan Finke and High River captain Colby Gulliver each drew heavy penalty minutes over the course of the night — Gulliver picked up a 10-minute misconduct late in the third.