The Airdrie-Cochrane (AC) Avalanche suffered a minor setback over the weekend on their quest to reach the AMMHL playoffs.
Coming into the home game against SEAC Tigers (4-18-3, 13th South Division) on the back of two wins and a draw, Avs (11-8-4, 5th South Division) were looking to maintain the hard-fought momentum that has helped them shoot up to a top five position in the league’s South Division this season.
Unfortunately, Tigers had other things in mind, spoiling the party with a shocking 6-4 win despite being outshot 41-22.
Avs’ ever-reliable forwards Austin Wong (two) and Cole Reinhardt were among the goal scorers for the home team, as was Ben Davison, scoring his fourth goal of the season. Reinhardt and Luke Jensen (three) had helpers.
“We ran into a hot goaltender,” Avs head coach Kenton Levesque reflected. “We outshot them two-to-one, but we just couldn’t score. We had a couple of collapses, they capitalized, and grabbed the two points.”
This isn’t the first time that Avs have been stunned by bottom-feeders in league action. Early this year they picked up losses against Red Deer Northstar Chiefs, Red Deer Strata Energy Chiefs, and Lethbridge Headwater Hurricanes, all bottom five teams in the division.
Why does Levesque think his team struggles against teams that on paper his players should have no trouble with?
“I think we kind of take them for granted, and let off the gas a bit,” he said. “In this age group, anything is possible. We’ve got to make sure the next time we play one of the bottom teams we can sneak away with two points.
“We weren’t too happy with ourselves over this last loss, but we’re going to have a good week of practices, because we’ve got the Oil Kings and Rangers coming up this weekend, which is going to be a huge test. We’re looking forward to it.”
CBHA Rangers (17-2-5) currently sit in first in the South, while Leduc Techmation Oil Kings (13-8-4) are fourth in the North. The last time Avs played Rangers they lost 10-1 and the Cochrane-based team knows what to expect this time around, but Oil Kings are a bit of a mystery to Levesque.
“I’ve never seen them before since we’ve only played two North teams this year, so it will be an interesting game,” he said. “All we can keep doing is taking it day by day. The league wasn’t won last weekend, and it wouldn’t be won this weekend.
“We’re just trying to get better, and hopefully when everything’s said and done at the end of the year, we’re on top.”
