The Airdrie Xtreme swept a pair of key divisional road games Feb. 5 and 6 to secure the top spot in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League’s Ram South Division heading into the playoffs.
With the 11-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels Black and an 8-5 win over the Medicine Hat Hockey Hounds, the Xtreme now sits first in the Ram South with 45 points, eight points ahead of the Red Deer Rebels White, with two regular-season games remaining.
“Mathematically, nobody can touch us, so we’ll end up in first in our division, which is important heading into the playoffs,” said Xtreme head coach Terry Keogh.
The Feb. 5 game against Red Deer was scheduled to be played at noon in Penhold, but due to a scheduling error, the game had to be moved at the last minute to Sylvan Lake.
“The governor of the AMBHL had to step in and arrange the ice time, so we got back on the bus and travelled over to Sylvan Lake and played the game there,” Keogh said.
Mackenzie Bauer led the offence with five goals and two assists, while Tyler Wong had three goals and three assists. Kristopher Leclair added two goals and Tristan Thompson had the other, as the Xtreme moved to 22W-8L-1T on the season. Netminder Malcolm Walilko made 23 saves for the win.
“(Bauer and Wong) were really flying and all three lines were playing really well,” Keogh said.
Airdrie played a balanced 60-minute attack style of game, and scored four times in the first, twice in the second and fives times in the third period – which is something Keogh said he had been vocal about in the past few weeks.
“We came out strong and were all over Red Deer Black,” he said. “We missed some opportunities early, but then started a really strong offensive charge. It was also something we’ve been working on – to keep everybody going hard throughout the game regardless of the score.”
Airdrie then travelled down to Medicine Hat to play the Hockey Hounds, Feb. 6, where the team overcame a first period deficit and grind out its fifth consecutive win. Netminder Christian Fitzgerald made 12 saves on 17 shots in the first two periods, before giving way to Walilko in the third.
Captain Colby Chartier led the offence with three goals and an assist, while Thompson, Bauer, Wong, JP Gingrus and Marshall Burr added singles.
“The effort was there, but we got mixed up a bit into some individual play and some guys were trying to do it themselves in the first two periods,” Keogh said. “They created a couple of costly turnovers, which allowed Medicine Hat to stay in the game. But we got it sorted out in the third period and managed to pull the win out. I was concerned a bit with the individual play and some of the turnovers, but encouraged with the focus in the third period and our ability to change gears and come out and earn a payout for the hard work.”
The Xtreme will close out its regular season with two home games at the Ron Ebbesen Arena this weekend: Feb. 12 at 7:15 p.m. against the Calgary Royals and 1 p.m. on Feb. 13 against the Calgary Northstar Sabres.
“(They’re) two very important games. The big thing with the Royals, although they’re not in our division, is they have an almost identical record and it will be a good test to the kind of competition we’ll be seeing in the playoffs. I’m looking forward to seeing how we measure up,” Keogh said.
“We got a little off track in the Medicine Hat game, so we’ll look to get back to the 60 minutes of good hard, solid team play, so we can continue to carry the momentum of the past few weeks. (Two wins) would be great for the confidence.”
