The Airdrie-Cochrane (AC) Avalanche had a mixed road trip over the weekend as they recorded a win and a loss versus the bottom two teams in the Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League’s (AMMHL) South Division.
Avalanche (9-5-2, 5th, South Div.) faced off against Lethbridge Headwater Hurricanes (3-13-2, 13th, South Div.) on Nov. 28, succumbing to a shock 4-2 defeat.
Hurricanes stormed to a 3-0 lead through MacRae Setoguchi, Kyl Hulit, and Quinn Buchannan, before Cole Reinhardt and Austin Wong napped a couple for the visitors (Eric Van Tetering setting up both) going into the final period.
Avs battled hard, but Carson Small scored for Hurricanes with 6:07 left in the third period to end the scoring.
“We didn’t play well at all during the first two periods,” said Kenton Levesque, Avalanche head coach. “In the third though, we got back to playing the way we normally do, and hit a couple posts, but still ended up losing.”
Avs bounced back in a big way, when they thumped SEAC Tigers (2-13-1, 14th, South Div.) 7-4 on Nov. 29. Wong (three), Reinhardt, Van Tetering, Ben Davison, and Josh Kroon all got on the score sheet for the visitors. Reinhardt (three), Wong (two), Joel Shoemaker, and Jacob Des Rosiers all chipped in with helpers.
“After the lapse on Saturday, it was good to get back to our game plan, and we beat Tigers pretty handily,” Levesque said. “The four goals that we conceded though, were all defensive breakdowns that we are still trying to eliminate from our game, but overall I was happy with the performance.”
After having a hectic schedule the last two weeks where his team played five games, Levesque says that his team are looking forward to, “a good week of practice,” and are looking to finish strong before the Christmas break.
At this point in the season, is he happy with how his team has progressed and where they sit in the standings?
“I never had any expectations about standings going into the season,” he confessed. “We just have to focus on the way that we play, and the standings will work themselves out. For the most part, we’re happy with the majority of games that we’ve played so far this season, and we look forward to what the future holds.”
Avs next travel to Red Deer Strata Energy Chiefs (5-8, 10th, Southern Div.) on Dec. 5. Puck-drop is 11:30 a.m.
