The Airdrie Thunder earned five of six points during its three games between Jan. 27 and Jan. 31 to officially clinch a spot in the upcoming Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) playoffs.
But, unfortunately for the club, it will likely have to play in a best-of-three play-in series against the Mountainview Colts, in a newly formatted No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed setup, to become the formal No. 4 seed.
The Thunder defeated the Ponoka Stampeders 6-1 at home, Jan. 27, beat the Red Deer Vipers 5-4 in overtime on the road, Jan. 28, and tied the Wranglers 4-4 at Blackfalds, Jan. 31. Airdrie sits tied for third in the standings with the Wranglers with 43 points, but Blackfalds has three games remaining, whereas the Thunder will play its final game of the season against the Stettler Lightning at the Ron Ebbesen Arena on Feb. 3.
“Banff and Ponoka would have to take points off them (Blackfalds), so we’re likely set up to battle with Didsbury,” said Thunder head coach Mike Carlsen. “We’ve got to be ready for them, as they always play us hard.”
Airdrie is four points ahead of Mountainview, so it will likely possess home-ice advantage in a 1-1-1 format.
“You always want to play at home, but we play well on the road too,” Carlsen said. “We’ve been approaching the last four games like a playoff series. Last night (against Blackfalds) was the first hiccup, really. We’re in the playoff mindset. It’s do or die time.”
Daniel Hounjet scored twice for Airdrie in the 4-4 tie with Blackfalds, while Brandon Esposito and Alex Hustad added singles. Airdrie held a 4-3 lead with 49 seconds left in the game when the Wranglers scored to tie.
Hustad scored twice, including the overtime winner 21 seconds into the extra frame, in the 5-4 victory over Red Deer. Brett Hanson, Kristian Petit and Alex Diduch added the other goals.
All nine goals in the game were scored on the power play.
Netminder Cody Boeckman made 28 saves for the win.
Boeckman also earned the win over Ponoka, but only had to make 10 saves as Airdrie outshot the Stampeders 53-11. Petit scored twice, on a wrist shot from the slot in the first and on a top shelf power play shot in the third, to lead the Thunder’s offence.
Hanson, Harrison Harper, Marcus Cheng and Nick Plesa had the other goals.
“(Travis) Wallan fed me perfectly and I just had to put ‘er home,” Harper said of his second period marker. “It was a perfect pass. I was fighting the puck all game, but we started dominating four-on-four and I was just at the right spot.”
“We didn’t come out exactly the way we wanted to, but we started to build on it, got a few positive things going and started to push toward the end,” Carlsen said. “We wanted to bring the pace and tempo up to where we want to play the game.”
Airdrie’s final regular season home game will be against the Stettler Lightning on Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. at the Ron Ebbesen Arena.
