The AMBHL regular season has seen 117 games played the season, meaning the regular season is just under a third way complete. In the early going a handful of teams have have risen to the top including the 7-2-2 St. Albert Sabres, 9-1-2 Bisons, and 8-1-3 Airdrie Xtreme, all of whom sit first in their respective divisions.
Goal scoring has come easy for Bilal Noori (CAC) and Craig Armstrong (Airdrie) who currently lead the North and South divisions tallying 13-8-21 and 12-9-21 through the first stage of the season. Noori, a 2004 born forward missed 2 games due to injury, but currently leads the league with a 2.3 point per game average. A pair of Lethbridge Golden Hawks in Nolan Price and Conner Furukawa are doing their best Chabot-Greig impression as both players sit with 19 points in 13 games so far this season, contributing to 34% of the teams scoring. Goaltenders Marek Pocherewny (Bisons) and William Lam (CAC) have been dominant thus far, posting .952 and .950 save percentages respectively. Defenceman Wyatt Day and Keegan Slaney lead the way for AMBHL defenceman in terms of scoring with both players over a point per game.
Top 10 Scoring
1. Bilal Noori (CAC) 9-13-8-21
2. Craig Armstrong (Airdrie) 11-12-9-21
3. Nolan Price (Lethbridge) 13-11-8-19
4. Dean Spak (Northstars) 14-11-8-19
5. Conner Furukawa (Lethbridge) 13-8-11-19
6. James Gibson (CAC) 11-7-11-18
7. Owen MacNeil (Royals) 13-6-12-18
8. Jayden Watson (GP) 12-9-8-17
9. Jayden Grubbe (Bisons) 12-6-11-17
10. Evan Forrest (PAC) 10-8-8-16
The North looks more and more wide open as each day passes, with the St. Albert Sabres currently leading the charge. The Sabres have gone 3-1-1 over the past five outings, losing to divisional rival CAC in a 4-1 game dominated by draft eligible goaltender William Lam. CAC has had some struggles as of late with a 2-3 record, losing to divisional opponents Sherwood Park and SSAC, as well as the Calgary Bisons, but keeping it tight in a 2-1 loss. The Aubin-less GPAC Storm have strung a pair of wins together in their past two outings, but remain 2-2-1 over their past five, taking a pair of wins over Lloydminster, outscoring them 17-3 in the process. The Fort Saskatchewan Rangers are hot right now winning four straight to improve their regular season record to 6-4-1 on the year. Forward Dylan Thompson has picked up three goals and an assist in the past three games.
The battle down south is heating up with a number of teams battling for the top spot. The Calgary Bisons currently hold down the Challenger South division with a record of 9–1-2 and have not lost in their past five games. The Calgary Royals have strung some wins together as of late, going 4-1 in their past five losing only to divisional rival Calgary Bisons in a 3-1 match. Airdrie lost only one game in October-the loss coming against the Lethbridge Golden Hawks back on October 1st. Since then, the Xtreme have taken wins against the Bisons as well as a 9-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels. Lethbridge had a very good start to their season, going 5-0 in October before dropping one to the Bisons then following up with a tie against the Northstars.
Scouting Notes
Tyson Greeneway (St. Albert) (Relation to James and Jordan) has taken a very noticeable step in terms of foot speed and the way he’s able to contribute offensively. He’s a guy to keep an eye on as tournaments start ramping up in November/December/January.
CAC is one of the deeper teams in terms of prospects at all positions. William Lam (G) has been excellent this season. Noori (’04) is scoring a lot and often. They’ll be a team to watch late in the year and into playoffs as a lot of the talent is physically raw and may not take their biggest step until next season.
Defenceman Colby Ball has looked great in all viewings so far. He’s a mobile blue liner who excels in transition. He’s a very interesting defender, and very few defenders in the league are posting good offensive numbers (which isn’t that unusual), but Ball has 4-7-11 in 10 games.
SSAC has a trio of defenders who have each shown some promise and each bring very different traits to the table. Sebastian Hamming, who played in Regina last season has been noticeable in viewings.
Leduc has a good prospect pool which includes the likes of ’04 Jake Sloan. Sloan was noticeable seconds into the first viewing, playing a very mature, intelligent game.
I have seen the Calgary Northstars once this season, and the resemblance between Ethan Rowland (Red Deer First Rounder 2017) and his brother Jackson are what makes watching these players fun. Dean Spak and Dylan Lacroix are also a couple of guys to keep an eye on.
Airdrie is the St. Albert/Ft. Sask of this season given how many top end prospects they have Aside from Craig Armstrong who’s tied for the league lead in scoring, forwards Tristan Zandee and Brett Moravec have done an excellent job scoring for the Xtreme.
