CANMORE – The Canmore Eagles have looked a lot different lately.
Pucks are hitting the back of nets, opponents are being shut down, and everything is clicking just right for the Junior A hockey team that's looking to keep momentum rolling on their current winning streak.
One of the hottest teams in the league, the Eagles (16-18-1-1) have consecutive victories over the national champion Brooks Bandits, the Drumheller Dragons, which beat the Eagles in the playoffs last season, and most recently against the Bonnyville Pontiacs on Saturday (Dec. 16).
Between the pipes, Eagles goalie Matthew Malin has been a brick wall, going 3-0 with one shutout to go along with a remarkable .976 save percentage.
With defence being a point of emphasis at the start of the season, the Eagles offence has soared the past three games which has felt long overdue for the club.
“It’s been coming,” said head coach and general manager Andrew Milne. “That’s the way I envisioned our team playing at the beginning of the year … everyone is just contributing in all areas. When we get the guys to play the way we should play then the results are going to be there.”
In the three-game stretch, the Eagles have outscored their opponents 13-2, while going four-for-14 on the power play at 28.5 per cent – nearly 10 per cent better than their season average. They've also tightened up the penalty kill, going a perfect 14-for-14, with players often doing the dirty work and getting in front of pucks.
Forward Ethan Look, who was traded from the Pontiacs to the Eagles in October, has been one of the Eagles' top contributors, with five goals and 26 points in 24 games.
He said the team is buying into the system.
“Everyone is kind of doing their roles and we’re playing great as a team and our coaching staff is doing a good job at laying out a system for us and I think we’re executing it really well," said Look.
Scoring has been a major sore spot for the Eagles, which is -28 in goals for/against this season. However, the club is +11 in that category this month.
December has been good to the Eagles, which are 5-2, and will finish a month above .500 for the first time this season. The club even snapped the Bandits 16-game winning streak.
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
“Everyone is blocking shots and doing things right in the D-zone, which is translating to success in the O-zone,” said captain Brody Tallman.
“We’ve definitely had our ups and downs this year [but] right now, there’s a vibe in the room that we feel we’re very strong and the team has been closer than ever now, which is a huge positive for our group. We’re just going to keep rolling and see what happens next.”
Tallman has had a goal in the past three. On the season, the captain is seventh among defencemen in scoring with 14 goals and 28 points - already tying the same amount of points he had from a season ago.
A gritty blueliner, Tallman's game has expanded this season and he's made it into the top-10 in multiple categories – a couple pretty good and one not so much. Becoming a top offensive-defenceman, he’s third in the league in power play goals with 11 and fourth in penalty minutes at 97.
Although the sin bin is often calling the 20-year-old defenceman, Tallman has led the charge on and off the ice.
"We're going to be bringing that [intensity] into the next couple of games here before the break," said Tallman.
To finish the 2023 calendar year, the Eagles are on the road Thursday (Dec. 21) against the Dragons, before returning home Friday night (Dec. 22) against the Calgary Canucks.
The Eagles first game of 2024 is at home Friday (Jan. 5) against the Drayton Valley Thunder.
