If hockey fans in Airdrie thought the Airdrie Techmation Thunder would coast through its best-of-seven North Division final series, the Mountainview Colts quickly put those ideas to bed. The Junior B club from Didsbury achieved something no other team in the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) has done this season – it beat the Thunder twice. After Airdrie won the series opener 6-1 March 5 at the Ron Ebbesen Arena, the Colts overcame the HJHL table-toppers 7-5 March 6 and 3-2 in overtime March 8. “In Game 2 and 3, a lot of credit has to go out to Mountainview for how they played us,” said the Thunder’s head coach, Derek Stamp. “They were able to do what a lot of teams have tried to do this year – take away our ice and limit our offensive chances.” Airdrie had entered the North Division final series after blanking the Blackfalds Wranglers in four straight games during the semi-final. The Thunder’s stellar offence – which recorded an eye-popping 333 goals during the regular season – showed no signs of slowing down in Game 1 against the Colts; the home team fired in six goals within the first 12 minutes to take a commanding lead. But Airdrie was unable to score for the remainder of the fixture, allowing the Colts to bring one back in the third period and ensuring the first contest ended 6-1. “We started strong, how we wanted, but we tailed off, which we have to fix,” said 18-year-old forward Brett LeGrandeur after the series opener. “We just kind of lost some focus after the hot start. That’s what went wrong. We need to stay focused the whole game and just play how we can.” In a game that surprised both HJHL teams and fans, the Colts beat the Thunder 7-5 in Game 2. The result marked the Thunder’s first loss of the 2019 playoffs – just its fourth defeat of the 2018-19 season, after ending the regular season with a 35-3-0 record. “There were some bad bounces in the second game and I think the score got a little out of hand,” Stamp said. “But in the third game, it was a tight defensive battle and they came out in overtime.” The overtime loss to Mountainview was also the first time Airdrie lost two fixtures in a row this season. “When we lost that second game in overtime, it was sort of uncharted territory,” Stamp said. “The guys were quick to identify what we needed to do differently and [how] to move past it.” Down 2-1 in the series, with elimination suddenly a real possibility, the Thunder improved its play March 10, winning 5-1 in Didsbury to tie the series 2-2. “Our guys made some adjustments in Game 4 and we felt we got back to playing the way we wanted to play, and we had a really positive result,” Stamp said. The two teams returned to the ice March 12, with Airdrie winning 6-1 at the Ron Ebbesen Arena to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Tyler Petrie was the hero of the night, scoring a hat trick for the Thunder, while skating alongside an offensive line that included Page and McConnell. The hat trick put his scoring output during the playoffs at 10 goals. "It's nice to contribute," the former Junior A player said. "It's pretty easy to score when [Page] and [McConnell] are passing it back to you." Game 6 took place in Didsbury March 13 (after press time). If a seventh game is necessary, it will be held March 15 in Airdrie at 8 p.m. Following the Thunder-Colts series, the victor will take on the winner of the South Division final series between the Coaldale Copperheads and the Cochrane Generals for the HJHL championship. As of March 12, Coaldale led that series 3-1.
