Alberta Junior Hockey League Notebook – Vol. 18

February 6, 2006

The Fort McMurray Oil Barons have pulled ahead of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the race for 1st place in the AJHL after recording 2 wins and 4 points on the weekend.  Fort McMurray defeated both the 3rd placed Drayton Valley Thunder and 4th placed Spruce Grove Saints in consecutive road games.  The Oil Barons lead the Rogers Wireless North Division and the League with 77 points and a record of 36-11-2-3.  The MOB will attempt to extend their 3 game winning streak and move further ahead of Bonnyville on Tuesday night when the two teams meet.  A Fort McMurray win would give the Oil Barons a 5 point cushion, but a loss will move the Pontiacs within 1 point of the leaders.  Tuesday’s game is the beginning of a six-game home stand for Fort McMurray, which will include having the Sherwood Park Crusaders at the Thickwood Heights Arena for back-to-back games on the weekend. 

The Bonnyville Pontiacs’ 6 game winning streak was stopped by the 5th placed Grande Prairie Storm on Saturday night.  The Pontiacs went on to defeat the Calgary Canucks on Saturday night and earn 2 points in the AJHL Standings.  Bonnyville is 2nd in the North Division and the League with 74 points.  The Pontiacs continue to lead the League in Goals For with 221.  Bonnyville will meet three North Division opponents this week before going eight consecutive days without a game.  The Pontiacs will play Fort McMurray on Tuesday, host Fort Saskatchewan on Thursday and travel to Spruce Grove on Saturday.  The Pontiacs have 2 games remaining versus the 1st placed Oil Barons and one game remaining against the 3rd placed Drayton Valley Thunder.

The Drayton Valley Thunder are 3rd in the North Division and the AJHL with 70 points.  The Thunder remain 4 points back of 2nd place and are one point up on the 4th placed Saints.  Drayton Valley and the Spruce Grove Saints are both 3-2-0 in their last five games.  The Thunder defeated Sherwood Park in a midweek game before losing back-to-back games against the Oil Barons and Fort Saskatchewan Traders.  Drayton Valley will travel to Lloydminster for two consecutive games versus the Bobcats this week and will also battle the Camrose Kodiaks on the weekend.  The Thunder will play the next five games on the road.

The Spruce Grove Saints are 4th in the North Division and the AJHL with 69 points, just one point ahead of the 5th placed Grande Prairie Storm and 1 point back of 3rd the place Thunder.  Spruce Grove has one game in hand on Drayton Valley and 2 games in hand on Grande Prairie.  The Saints earned 2 of a possible 6 points last week with an overtime win over the Lloydminster Bobcats.  With the overtime point, Lloydminster broke an 8 game pointless streak.  The Saints will host three home games this week and take to the road for three games next week.

Earning 5 of a possible 6 points has moved the Grande Prairie Storm to within 2 points of 3rd place in the North Division and the AJHL.  The Storm are 5th in the North Division and the League with 68 points.  The 6th placed Fort Saskatchewan Traders are currently riding a 5 game winning streak and have 62 points.

Only 10 points separate the Top Five teams in the Rogers Wireless South Division.  The Olds Grizzlys lead the Division with 63 points.  The Grizzlys are 28-17-3-4 on the season.  The Fort Saskatchewan Traders and Olds Grizzlys are tied for 6th spot overall in the League Standings.  Olds lost to the Camrose Kodiaks on Friday and defeated the Calgary Royals on Saturday.  The Grizzlys have just 2 points on the 2nd placed Kodiaks and one game in hand.  The Grizzlys will host the Division’s 4th placed Okotoks Oilers on Tuesday and travel to meet Grande Prairie and Spruce Grove on the weekend.   

The Camrose Kodiaks are 2nd in the South Division and 8th overall in the League Standings with 61 points.  The Kodiaks are 4-0-1 in the last five games.  Camrose earned 5 of a possible 6 points last week by defeating Sherwood Park and Olds and recording a tie with the Canmore Eagles.  The Kodiaks will play four games this week staring in Fort Saskatchewan on Tuesday.  The Kodiaks will then host Drumheller, Drayton Valley and the Calgary Royals at the Max MacLean Arena. 
 
The Drumheller Dragons have moved ahead of the Brooks Bandits to take over sole possession of 3rd place in the South Division with 57 points.  Drumheller is 4 points back of the Kodiaks with 2 games in hand.  The Dragons and Kodiaks will meet on Thursday, February 9th.  Drumheller picked up 4 points last week with an overtime win against the Calgary Canucks and a victory over the Canmore Eagles.  The Dragons will host the Lloydminster Bobcats on Sunday.
 
The Okotoks Oilers have moved into 4th place in the South Division with 54 points.  The Oilers won both games last week to earn 4 points in the standings.  Okotoks will travel to Olds on Tuesday and host Lloydminster on Saturday.   The Brooks Bandits were tied for 3rd place for three consecutive weeks, but have now slid to 5th place in the South with 53 points.  The Bandits will play a home and home series with the Calgary Canucks, and host the Lloydminster Bobcats this week. 
 
The Lloydminster Bobcats hold down the final playoff spot in the North Division with 37 points.  The Canmore Eagles and Calgary Canucks are tied for the last playoff spot in the South Division with 40 points.

Fort McMurray goaltender Jimmy Bernier leads all AJHL Goaltenders with a Goals Against Average (GAA) of 1.51 and a 28-5-4 (W-L-T) record.  Bernier leads the AJHL in Shut Outs with 10, a new League Record.  The Fort McMurray Oil Barons have allowed the fewest Goals Against with 86.  Ben Scrivens of Spruce Grove remains in second place with a 2.22 GAA and a 23-9-2 record.  Goaltender David Thompson of the Camrose Kodiaks has moved up one spot into 3rd place with a GAA of 2.38.  Thunder goaltender Scott Gudmandson has slid from 3rd to 6th spot in the AJHL with a 2.52 GAA.

Mark Letestu of the Bonnyville Pontiacs still leads the AJHL Scoring Race.   Letestu has 42 goals and 92 points in 50 games.  Dylan Wiwchar, also of the Pontiacs, is second overall with 87 points.  Wiwchar has the most goals in the AJHL with 43 and most Game Winning Goals at 9.  Chris Wilson of the Grande Prairie Storm remains in 3rd spot with 77 points after recording 6 points last week.  Rookie Justin Fontaine of Bonnyville (75 points) and Storm forward Dustin Sather (74 points) are in 4th and 5th place respectively.  Sather also recorded a 6-point week for the Storm.  Kael Mouillierat of Drayton Valley leads the League in Power Play Goals with 18. 

Jase Weslosky of the Sherwood Park Crusaders leads the AJHL, following the fourth segment of the Source for Sports Cup Standings.  Jase accumulated 39 points in January for a season total of 130 points thus far.  Jase has been selected the Source for Sports Player of the Game for the visiting team eight times and seven times for the home team.  A point is awarded to a player each time the player is selected as the Source for Sports Player of the Game.  The player also receives 5 points for a home team selection and 10 points for a visiting team selection.  Every month each Team Leader is awarded a $50 Source for Sports Gift Certificate.  The winner of the Source for Sports Cup Standings will be determined on February 28th, 2006 following the fifth and final segment of the AJHL Regular Season; the winner will be awarded $250 compliments of Source for Sports. 

Bonnyville Pontiacs Forward Matthew Cook has taken a leave from the Pontiacs Hockey Club due to medical illness.  Matthew has recently been diagnosed with bone cancer (Osteosarcoma).  Matthew will be receiving treatment at the Cross Cancer Institute for pre-operative chemotherapy.  The Pontiacs have set up a Gift Account at Lakeland Credit Union in Bonnyville.  Cook is an 18-year old Forward from Edmonton, Alberta and is in his Rookie season with the Pontiacs.  Matthew has not played a game with the Pontiacs since January 14th, 2006.

Hockey Canada announced the four groups that have submitted bids to host the 2008 RBC Royal Bank Cup, Canada’s National Junior A Hockey Championship.  Hockey Canada received bids from the following groups (in alphabetical order): Camrose Kodiaks – Camrose, Alberta; Kindersley Klippers – Kindersley, Saskatchewan; Cornwall Colts – Cornwall, Ontario; Winnipeg South Blues – Winnipeg, Manitoba.  The winning bid that will host the 2008 RBC Royal Bank Cup will be announced at the 2006 Hockey Canada Annual General Meeting in May 2006.

College Hockey America (CHA) has named AJHL Alumni, Kurt Wright (Crowsnest Pass) of Robert Morris, as the CHA Offensive Player of the Week.   Wright scored 4 points in 3 games last week, including a goal in each game.  Robert Morris won all three games and has moved into fourth place in the CHA standings.  This is the second time Wright has received the honour this season.  Bruce Mulherin (Olds Grizzlys) of Alabama-Huntsville, was the runner-up for CHA Offensive Player of the Week.   Mulherin was named the CHA Offensive Player of the Week for the week prior to January 30th and January 16th. 

The SP Apparel Canadian Junior ‘A’ Hockey League National Rankings listed the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in 6th spot for the week ending February 5th, 2006.  The National Junior ‘A’ rankings represent an assessment, based on performance, of the top fifteen Junior ‘A’ teams in the country up to this point in time out of the 140 Junior ‘A” teams in the CJAHL.