Canmore Eagles vs Lloydminster Bobcats Friday, November 8th, 2019
Written by: Tyler Campbell
Last Friday night I was asking the question ?what will it take for the Lloydminster Bobcats to catch a break already and win their first at home?? This Friday night I?m asking myself ?will the Cats ever lose at home again?!? Ok, that might be a TAD presumptuous. But after finally breaking through on home ice last Saturday night against the Drayton Valley Thunder, the Bobcats took their second straight at the Centennial Civic Centre on Friday night, this time with a convincing 6-1 win over the Canmore Eagles.
Had anyone told me the Cats were on their way to a 6-1 victory after the first period of play, I?d have called them a liar. It wasn?t a pretty start for the boys in black as the Eagles Ethan Schaeffer got the first in his AJHL career just 1:59 in. 1 shot, 1-0 Eagles. The Bobcats did manage to get that one back at 7:33 as Nolen Coventry found Chad MacLean sneaking in off the point on the power play and MacLean riffled one past Eagles goaltender Devin Chapman to tie the game and it would remain tied after the first, however the Cats trailed on the shot clock 11-5, and did not look good to start the game. Head coach Nigel Dube agreed with that assessment. ?I think you could look up in a thesaurus every word for gross with how we played in the first period. Just with our execution and our puck management. Nothing terrifying, and you?re going to have those periods, but luckily we were able to come out of it 1-1.?
Needless to say it was a different team to start the 2nd period. Chad MacLean?s 2nd of the game at the 5:38 mark would put the Cats up 2-1. The composure that Kaeden Tenkoppel displayed at the blueline to make the play happen was a thing of beauty as his confidence continues to go through the roof. Ty Mosimann made it 3-1 as he got loose on a two on one with Chance Adrian and rather than risk the pass across he fired a laser over the glove of Chapman. Then Tanner Mack would make it 4-1 for the Cats on the power play as he put home a Chad MacLean rebound. That would be all for Chapman, as the Eagles turned to Kadin Kilpatrick in an attempt to regain the momentum. However the score remained 4-1 for the Cats after two periods of play.
The 3rd was just more of the same from the Bobcats. Perhaps a lesson learned from a week ago where after jumping out to a 2-0 lead over the Drayton Valley Thunder, they sat back on that lead and slowly allowed the Thunder to build momentum as the game progressed, eventually leading to a 3-2 overtime loss. Ty Mosimann got his 2nd of the night off a feed from Alex Danis to make it 5-1 just 1:54 into the final frame. And Mack Stewart would cap the evening for the Bobcats at the 10:55 mark as Brendan Morrow centred it and Stewart was stoned on the initial shot, but stuck with it and eventually banged home the rebound. Bobcats 6, Eagles 1. Not to be forgotten was a tremendous performance from Cats netminder Josh Dias as he turned away the final 41 shots sent his way by the Eagles in the win.
Needless to say, Dube was much happier with the way his team played in the final 40 minutes of the game. ?We came out and we executed the minor adjustments that we made (in the first intermission), we put pucks on goal, and then to get our special teams going in the right direction tonight was a big part of it.? Special teams might have been the difference in the game as the Cats got that key power play goal in the first period when the ice was tilted in the Eagles favour, ending up 2 for 4 on the night, and then they were a perfect 4 for 4 on the PK. Something else that was very noticeable with the team?s performance was their confidence. ?I don?t think we?re going to get ahead of ourselves by any means, but the guys who are finding the back of the net are the guys who are getting their junior wheels underneath them now. Mack Stewart tonight, that was just a no quit goal there, hanging around the blue. 3 weeks ago, we?re doing a loop there. So those are just the little things that are leading to the big things for our team. And we need to continue to do those things and continue to grow in the right direction, and move forward the way that we want to as a team.?
The Cats are right back at it and are looking to make it 3 in a row at home tonight as the Calgary Canucks come to town. Puck drop for the game at the Centennial Civic Centre is 7:30. As always, if you can?t make it down to the rink, Shane Tomayer and myself will have the action for you on Hockey TV or on the MixLR app.
