The Lloydminster Bobcats took five of six possible points during a productive weekend road trip against South Division teams, and the Border City boys almost headed home with the full half-dozen points from that junket.
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After scoring the would-be winner in overtime, Lloyd’s players hurried off the ice Sunday in Canmore, only to have the officials disallow the goal and call the Bobcats back on the ice to complete what became a 4-3 shootout victory for the hometown Eagles.
The Canmore net came off its moorings as two big Bobcats — Kade Fendelet and Landen Ward — connected for what they had hoped was the winning goal. Fendelet, the captain, immediately led the Bobcats off the ice and toward the dressing room, and the Lloydminster coaches crossed the ice and followed suit.
But all of them were soon summoned back on board for the resumption of play with 2:54 left in OT.
“They first gave it to us and then they took it back,” Bobcats coach Eric Labrosse said about the officials’ ruling on the disallowed goal. “It is what it is. The net was dislodged and the referees, when they gathered together, they figured the puck was being shot as the goal was dislodged. I mean, that’s their decision and we respect it.”
The Eagles and their fans didn’t go anywhere during the brief stoppage, and they eventually added another win to their 26-18-2 record atop the South Division. It was Canmore defenceman Quinn Keeler’s first game against the Bobcats, the team that traded him midway through this Alberta Junior Hockey League season.
Including his puck-clearing contributions down the stretch, Keeler was an effective Eagle during an afternoon game decided in a five-round shootout. Canmore goaltender Hudson Sedo stopped Gus El-Tahhan to finish the job. Jonathan Gomez, with the winner, and Cohen Daoust tallied the Eagles’ shootout goals, while Raphael Messier struck for Lloydminster.
The Bobcats (27-13-5) remain fourth in the crowded North Division, where seven points separate first from fourth. Lloyd gained another point on the Bonnyville Pontiacs, who fell 12 points back of the Bobcats in the fading race for the final playoff position in the North.
“I thought it was a great weekend,” said Labrosse, whose Bobcats also blanked the Calgary Canucks 5-0 on Saturday evening and defeated the Drumheller Dragons 3-1 on Friday night.
“That’s a tough trip, to go on a southern swing and play three games in three days. To me, they’re all good teams. For us to come back with five out of six points was a huge weekend. The boys played really hard. They had a lot of character and resiliency when we were down in certain games where our energy might not have been there as much. But we always managed to come back in every game and have a very positive weekend for ourselves.”
Bonnyville routed Canmore 7-1 on Saturday in the Pontiacs’ lone win during their three-game weekend swing through the South Division. Bonnyville took a 22-21-3 record into this Wednesday’s home game against the North’s third-place Fort McMurray Oil Barons (27-15-6), who sat one point ahead of Lloydminster.
HIKIDA, SHARMA STEP INTO BCHL ACTION
The Bobcats’ bountiful weekend came just days after they lost two of their most experienced players, 19-year-old forward Matthew Hikida and 20-year-old goaltender Jaiden Sharma, to BCHL teams. Hikida, playing on the same line as his cousin Jamie Hikida, made his Okotoks debut last Friday in what turned out to be an 0-3 family weekend for the Oilers. In his first game between the Cowichan Valley pipes, Sharma and the Capitals lost 5-4 on Saturday against his former BCHL team, the Surrey Eagles.
Those departures in the same week as the Feb. 10 signing deadline left the Bobcats scrambling to make roster revisions. They were granted permission to add 20-year-old goaltender Trent Peterson, a Superior, Wis., native who had been playing in the North American Hockey League with the St. Cloud Norsemen and the Amarillo Wranglers. The six-foot-four Peterson dressed as Ty Matonovich’s backup for the Bobcats’ games Sunday in Canmore and Saturday at Calgary.
Meanwhile, it was business as usual for Matonovich, who made 40 saves through overtime Sunday, after registering 29 stops Saturday to post his second AJHL shutout. The Calgarian also tended goal Friday in the Bobcats’ victory at Drumheller.
As they begin their final 10-game stretch of the regular season, the Bobcats are at home to Drumheller this Friday night and Canmore on Sunday afternoon. Lloyd hosts the Devon Xtreme (14-25-5) next Wednesday, Feb. 25.
Coach Labrosse said this Monday that he wasn’t certain how long injured forward Alex Levasseur might be out of the Bobcats’ lineup. Levasseur, who has scored four goals and nine points in 11 games, sat out the final two dates on the weekend road trip.
“Alex might be a few days or a week away from coming back. We’ll look into it every day this week, to monitor how he feels before Friday’s game.”
The Bobcats are still hopeful that defenceman Noah Smith, sidelined since before Christmas, might be able to make another comeback.
“He’s a player that we hope to see here sooner rather than later,” Labrosse said. “We do miss Smitty. He’s an important part of our D squad. We hope he receives some good news (this week in Calgary) when he sees his doctor.”
For the second straight weekend during a five-game road swing, the Bobcats dressed affiliated players. Luke Jamieson, a 16-year-old forward from the Edge U18 prep team in Calgary, appeared in two games last weekend. His prep teammate, Carsten Leyerzapf, served as Matonovich’s backup on Friday.
As they jockey for playoff positioning, the Bobcats plan to address the undisciplined play that has crept into their game during the past few weeks.
“The whole season, we’ve been the most disciplined team in the AJHL,” Labrosse said. “I mean, the stats showed it.
“(But) we have been picking up a few more penalties in the last three, four weeks. We do have to look into that. As we are, as a matter of fact. We have to make sure that, going into playoffs, that’s something that’s settled and taken care of.
“There’s no room for error in playoffs. If you’re an undisciplined team, it’s going to cost you in games and in series. We’ve got to make sure, as a group, that we’re a little more disciplined than we have been in the last few weeks, for sure.”
SUNDAY AFTERNOON (Eagles 4, Bobcats 3, SO): Before the game was decided in the shootout, Fendelet’s second goal of the afternoon made it 3-3 with seven minutes remaining in the third period.
Lloyd boys Fendelet and Jaxan Hopko each scored a power-play goal. El-Tahhan, Messier and Ward collected two assists apiece.
John Szabo tallied twice for Canmore. He and Aidan Tkachuk netted power-play goals in the final minute of the second period, as the Bobcats ran into penalty trouble. Kael Screpnek’s checking-to-the-head minor came just a couple of minutes after Ward received a double-minor (for slashing and cross-checking) and a misconduct.
Fendelet and Szabo each picked up misconducts simultaneously in the last minute of the overtime period, during which the Eagles killed off Daoust’s high-sticking penalty.
Lloyd outshot Canmore 7-3 in OT, but the Eagles had a 44-34 edge overall.
SATURDAY EVENING (Bobcats 5, Canucks 0): Matonovich’s shutout performance in his native Calgary helped Lloydminster hand the Canucks their fifth straight defeat.
Ward scored twice, while Messier, Screpnek and Jadon Iyogun each supplied a goal and an assist. The winning tally came 1:32 into the second period as Messier potted his 10th of the season on a feed from Luke Dooley. Ethan Elefante also assisted on the play.
Fendelet contributed two assists in his return to the lineup after serving a two-game suspension for a boarding infraction against the Whitecourt Wolverines.
After being outshot 15-5 in the scoreless first period, Lloyd went on to post a 38-29 margin overall. Noah Nelson was in the Calgary net.
The Canucks ended their losing skid Sunday with a 4-2 victory over visiting Bonnyville.
FRIDAY NIGHT (Bobcats 3, Dragons 1): All four goals were scored on power plays.
The Lloyd marksmen were El-Tahhan, with two points, Iyogun and Ward. El-Tahhan’s 15th goal of the season was the eventual winner.
Bradley Gallo’s 24th was the lone Drumheller goal. Now sitting 11th in AJHL scoring, Gallo has 26 goals and 52 points after 45 games, entering this Friday’s rematch in Lloydminster.
The Bobcats outshot the Dragons 30-25, with Matonovich and Sean Cootes tending goal for their respective teams.
At home last Saturday, Drumheller defeated Devon 5-2.
HARRISON SPARKS PONTIACS
Bonnyville’s 1-1-1 weekend versus South Division teams began with a 2-1 shootout loss to the Olds Grizzlys (15-27-4) on Friday. The Pontiacs fired 48 shots at Cole Prelusky, while Ben Laurette faced 24 in the Bonnyville net.
In the Pontiacs’ six-goal win at Canmore on Saturday, Bonnyville rookie goaltender Nathan Salisbury stopped 48 of 49 shots. For the second time in his junior A career, Pontiacs’ 16-year-old sniper Gavin Harrison scored three goals and set up another. Ex-Bobcat Ben Costantino tallied twice.
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