CANMORE – A long, dark bus ride was taken back to Brooks on Tuesday night.
Scoring three goals in the first, the Canmore Eagles (14-18-1-1) were flying high all the way to snapping the 16-game winning streak of the hottest team in the league – a 4-1 victory over the AJHL and CJHL champion Brooks Bandits (31-4-0-0) at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
The Eagles scorers were Brody Tallman, Tyler Loughman, Owen Jones and Nathan MacPherson-Ridgewell.
Goaltender Matthew Malin made 36 saves to pick up the W (10-9-1).
All fired up, the Eagles wasted no time in celebrating the defeat of the team who “love to run their mouths.”
“It was the biggest win of the year,” said forward Loughman. “We came together and we all felt like everyone contributed [on Dec. 12]. There’s nothing better than beating Brooks.”
The last time the Bandits lost was Oct. 31. The rare defeat also marked goaltender Brendan Holahan’s first L of the campaign (12-1-0).
The #Brooks Bandits did not like that their 16-game winning streak was snapped by the #Canmore Eagles. Down 4-1 with 4.5 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/oEcrEcCfhh
— Jordan Small (@jordiesmall) December 13, 2023
Though, it should be noted at least six Bandits were missing from the line-up Tuesday, including goalie Johnny Hicks who so far has the most wins in the league this season with 19, while they play for Team Canada West at the World Junior A Hockey Challenge in Nova Scotia from Dec. 10-17.
Despite some faces missing, the Eagles charged out aggressively and put on a total team effort to knock off the AJHL juggernauts.
“They’re the national champions – they let you know that every time you play them – so for our guys ... it’s not just that we won, but the way we won,” said Eagles head coach Andrew Milne.
“We blocked a lot of shots, we were structurally sound, everyone contributed to the win, I thought our discipline was good, and I thought our overall game plan was good.”
The local club got a much-needed morale boost in victory. Prior to Tuesday, the Eagles got smoked 5-1 against the Drumheller Dragons, the team that eliminated them from the playoffs last season.
Malin had perhaps the most needed bounce-back performance after getting pulled against the Dragons in the first period after three goals were scored on six shots.
Looking sharp against the Bandits, one big moment happened in the second period when 20-year-old Malin absolutely robbed captain Nicholas DeGraves’ one-timer, sliding from post-to-post to make a kicking save in the nick of time.
Looking to seal the deal on a shutout late in the third, Malin’s top-notch play even inspired his teammates to block some hard slappers in front of the net.
“I can’t say enough how much that means to me,” said Malin. “I love ‘em for it. That’s what we do, we’re brothers and I’m so thankful for them to do that for me.”
However, the pressing Bandits managed to sneak one past the Eagles netminder with less than two minutes on the clock.
“Of course, I wanted the shutout, but at the end of the day that was an enormous win,” said Malin. “We needed that and that’s all that matters in the end.”
Sitting in 12th place, the Eagles are still trying to find their groove and claw out the lower-end of the standings. There are still concerns around the team's scoring, which has a -36 rating for goals for/goals against, and the third most penalty minutes which goes hand-in-hand with the Eagles having second lowest penalty kill percentage (75.5).
Though, after the big victory over the national champs, confidence is beaming with the club.
“This win tonight feels like a turning point for us so hopefully we can keep it going and keep the momentum going,” said Loughman.
The Eagles have four games remaining before the holiday break, including three at home. This Friday and Saturday night (Dec. 15-16) the Eagles host the Dragons and Bonnyville Pontiacs.
The club is on the road Thursday (Dec. 21) against the Dragons, before returning home Friday night (Dec. 22) against the Calgary Canucks.
