With six games left in AMMHL regular-season action, the AC Avalanche had an opportunity to gain some serious ground in the standings, and boy, did they run with it.
Heading out on their last road trip of the season, Avs looked to take six points out of a possible six, and didn’t get off to the start they wanted, drawing 5-5 with Rockyview Raiders on Feb. 19.
“We had a great road trip,” said Avs head coach Kenton Levesque. “But, against Raiders, we blew a two goal lead with six minutes left. It was a tight checking game.
“Obviously we don’t like to allow five goals, but it was a power-play filled affair, we grabbed a couple goals as well as them. Getting a point was a good way to start, but we thought we deserved two.”
Star forward Austin Wong continued his hot streak against Raiders with a goal and three assists, while Luke Jensen added a brace. Cole Reinhardt and Eric Van Tetering both chipped in with a goal apiece.
On Feb. 20, Avs put in one of their most dominant performances of the season, spanking SEAC Tigers 10-4 in Medicine Hat.
The demolition was payback for the 6-4 loss Tigers inflicted on the Cochrane-based side on Jan. 9.
Wong (four), Reinhardt (two), Jensen, Van Tetering, Ty Tippett, and Josh Kroon all found the back of the net for the visiting side.
Van Tetering, Reinhardt (two), Wong (three), Jensen (two), Kroon, Kyle Lappin, Jacob Des Rosiers, Ben Davison, Joel Shoemaker, George Reed, and Keenan McElroy all recorded assists.
“We were just hoping to play a good game and give ourselves a chance to win,” Levesque said. “It was one of those games where everything went in. Austin Wong had seven points, which was pretty impressive. We weren’t expecting a score like that, but we did expect two points.”
Rounding out their three games in three days extravaganza, the team travelled to the Lethbridge Headwater Hurricanes on Feb. 21.
The triumvirate of Jensen (two), Reinhardt, and Wong (with his league-leading 43rd goal of the year), again let the charge as they scored four of Avs’ goals. Ryan Ries added a fifth late on in a third period onslaught when Avs scored three unanswered goals to take the game 5-1.
Once again, Wong was in impressive form, picking up four assists, with Ries, Reinhardt, Reed, Van Tetering, and Des Rosiers all chipping in.
“It started off as a tight game,” Levesque said. “In the third period, we walked away with it. The score was very unbalanced for how close most of the game had been. They ran out of gas, and we still had a bit in the tank which I am proud of seeing, considering how many games we played over the weekend.”
The five points gained, now means Avs have leapfrogged NWCAA Bruins and NWCAA Stampeders into sixth place in the South Division. Due to having a couple games still in hand, the team has a great chance at finishing the regular-season in third or fourth if the cards fall the right way.
“Three more points gets us into fourth,” Levesque confirmed. “We’ve got a couple tough games coming up against CBHA Blackhawks who are number one in our division. This is a good time to play them though, because they didn’t win either of their games this weekend.
“We’re going up and they seem to be going down, so hopefully we can use that to our advantage.”
