With the AMMHL regular season in the bag, the Airdrie-Cochrane (AC) Avalanche will be looking to put their losing streak behind them while they prepare for the Sutter Cup.
It was a weekend to forget for Avs (16-13-8, 8th South Division) as they fell 6-3 to both CRAA Gold (20-9-8. 4th South Div.) and CBHA Blackhawks (27-6-4, 1st South Div.).
“We didn’t get the results we wanted, but the effort was there,” said Avs head coach Kenton Levesque.
“Obviously, you don’t want to go into the Sutter Cup on the back of a losing streak, but the reality is, it doesn’t matter how you get there as long as you get to the tournament.
“That’s what we’ve been looking for all season.”
Hosting Gold on Feb. 27 at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, Avs went down 4-0 by the middle of the second period, before star forwards Eric Van Tetering and Austin Wong (with his league-leading 44th goal of the season) cut the deficit in half.
Wong and Joel Shoemaker picked up assists.
Unfortunately for the home side, the chance at a comeback was neutralized as Gold scored two more goals before the end to put the two points out of Avs’ reach.
Jacob De Rosiers added a consolation goal (Van Tetering and Ty Tippett assisting) for the hosts with less than two minutes remaining in the game, but it was too little, too late.
The losing streak continued on Feb. 28 when Avs travelled to Blackhawks, a team that has maintained top spot in the division for much of the year, and have the third-least losses in the entire league (six).
Van Tetering, Cole Reinhardt, and Scott Shugg all bagged goals for the visiting side, but again they fell to a 6-3 deficit.
Reinhardt, Shoemaker, George Reed (two), and Cade Chudleigh all picked up helpers.
“Obviously, we were looking to do better over the weekend, but I liked the way we played,” Levesque said.
“Gold played us tough, just like they have all year, and against Blackhawks we ran into a goalie who wasn’t allowing much.
“We executed our plan well, and they had a couple bounces go their way and capitalized. The score ended up being a lot more lopsided than the game actually was.
“Overall, I liked our intensity. If we can carry that into a short competition like the Sutter Cup, anything can happen. As a coaching staff, we’re very happy with where we are and our progression this season.”
Looking back on the regular-season, was Levesque expecting his team to perform as they have throughout the year?
“We figured we had a talented side,” he said.
“As long as we worked hard, we could do well. We weren’t really goal-oriented in terms of standings. We were focused on what we could control every game, and we did a very good job.
“My expectations have been met this year, the boys have given me their undivided attention, they constantly try to improve, and have always come to the rink with a positive attitude. That’s all I expect.”
Avs now have a 10-day break before they travel to the Sutter Cup.
Does Levesque think these losses will have any effect on his team’s confidence?
“We’re not worried,” he said. “We don’t dwell on the past, our confidence level is always high. We’ll continue to work hard every game. I believe that work ethic is something that helps to build confidence and character, and we have that in abundance.
“Right now we’re focused on getting everyone healthy and back in the lineup. After playing six games in the last two weeks, this is the perfect opportunity to heal up.
“We’re not looking too far ahead, we’re just going to take it day by day. The Sutter Cup is going to be great. We’re going to throw our regular season behind us and try and win as many games as we can over that weekend.
“Hopefully by the end, we can come out on top.
“It’s going to be very exciting for the coaching staff and all 18 of our players.”
The Avalanche are tentatively scheduled to play their first game at Sutter Cup South on Mar. 10 in Lethbridge.
