The U18 AAA Lloydminster Lancers are beginning to show they mean business in the Alberta Elite Hockey League.
The Lancers posted their first victory of the young season on Thanksgiving Sunday, defeating the Calgary Northstars 7-3 during the league showcase weekend in Edmonton.
Now with a 1-2-1 record, Lloydminster opened the weekend with a 5-2 loss to the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs on Saturday.
Terwillegar’s Booster Juice Recreation Centre hosted all of the league’s 16 teams for 16 games throughout the holiday weekend.
Read more: Pratt likes Lancers’ early progress
EDGE IN GOAL
In the Lancers’ victory, rookie goaltender Stran Edge of Marwayne made 32 saves to win his first start of the regular season.
Lloydminster took a 3-2 lead into the third period and outscored Calgary 4-1 in the final 20 minutes.
The Lancers’ power play accounted for four goals, as rookie forward Brody Sunderland of Kitscoty assisted on all four of them.
The extra-strength goals came from Kitscoty’s Gavin Pratt, with two, Castor’s Kelton Doolaege and captain Rhett Romanchuk, a defenceman from Lloydminster.
Pratt and Cold Lake’s Connor Nickle, with three assists, each had three-point games.
The Lancers also got goals from Lloydminster defencemen Graydon Kvill and Aiden Harman and Paradise Valley forward Logan Flewell. Harman picked up his first two points of the season.
Lloyd fired 39 shots at Northstars netminder Rail Schollar, a 16-year-old prospect of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings and brother of former Northstars captain Hayden Schollar, now of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen.
Jacob Pidde, Caden Nevokshonoff and Ethan Couture scored for Calgary (3-2), which won 6-2 against the Leduc Oil Kings (2-2-1) on Saturday.
SUNDERLAND SETUP MAN
In the Lancers’ loss Saturday, Red Deer led 1-0 after the first period and 4-1 following 40 minutes.
Nickle, with two points, and St. Albert’s Ty Domshy each scored power-play goals for Lloydminster.
The 15-year-old Sunderland assisted on both goals as part of his six-assist weekend. All six
of those points came in extra-manpower situations. The Spokane Chiefs’ prospect leads all Lancers in scoring, with a goal and eight points after four games.
Nickle, also Spokane property, is next among Lancer scorers. He has three goals and seven points in four games.
Making his third consecutive start with the Lancers, Edmonton native Asher Ammann stopped 31 of Red Deer’s 35 shots. The Chiefs’ Grady Gardiner made 29 saves for his first victory in two appearances this season.
George Monaghan scored two goals, including an empty-netter, for Red Deer (2-2). Sullivan Hookey added a goal and an assist. The Chiefs’ other goals came from Bennett Roth and 14-year-old Calder Fraser, with his first U18 tally. Turning 15 this month, Sylvan Lake’s Fraser is the son of former NHL forward Colin Fraser.
Hookey scored two more goals Sunday as Red Deer lost 6-3 to the Edmonton Junior Oilers Orange (2-0-1), which received a four-point game (2-2) from Tailon Scott.
As has been the case since the pre-season, Lloydminster was without Prince Albert Raiders’ forward prospect Tripp Fischer, the Lloyd native selected to Team Alberta for the U16 WHL Cup, a top-prospects tournament running Oct. 22-26 in Red Deer. Recovering from a high-ankle sprain, Fischer and his advisors were still assessing his status for this weekend’s league games in Calgary, and next week’s WHL Cup.
The Lancers visit the Calgary Royals (2-3-1) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 18) at Stu Peppard Arena, and the unbeaten Calgary Northwest Flames (4-0) at 2:45 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 19) at Father David Bauer Arena.
Lloydminster goes up against two of the league’s top scorers in the Royals’ Griffen Bruno, with six goals and nine points after six games, and the Flames’ Jack Coghlan, with three goals and nine points in four games.
The Lancers’ next home game is on Saturday, Oct. 25, when the St. Albert Raiders (2-0-2) visit Lloydminster for a 1:15 p.m. game at the Hub.
Read more: Lancers gain point in home-opener
