Two teams remain in the AMBHL North, the 27-7-2 Fort Saskatchewan Rangers and the 31-1-4 St. Albert Sabres. The two teams have sat atop their respective divisions throughout the majority of the year, each racking up some dominant wins over the course of the season. St. Albert took the season series against Fort with a record of 1-0-1, taking a tight 3-2 victory back on December 22nd in what was one of the tightest games of the year. The last time these two teams faced off was a goal scorers night in an 8-8 tie that featured a five point (3G 2A) night from highly touted prospect Alex Thacker, as well as 4 points from Ethan Leyer and a three point night for Noah Boyko.
It only took the Rangers four games to make it to the north final with sweeps against both Lloydminster and Grand Prairie. They were able to outscore their opponents 17-9 in the process, with Noah Boyko leading the way offensively, registering five goals and four assists in the process. Alex Thacker and Raphael Pelletier also found themselves on the score sheet a number of times, Thacker racking up seven points (2G 5A), and Pelletier with five points over the course of the two rounds. The biggest news to come out of the second round for the Rangers was the return of star goaltender Sebastian Cossa who recorded a shutout in his first game back after sustaining a wrist injury at the AMBHL All Star Game back in January.
The Sabres found themselves in some tough competition during game two their series against Sherwood Park, taking a 3-2 loss in a OT thriller which saw Ethan Barwick make a number of miraculous saves throughout. They later went on to defeat Sherwood Park quite easily taking a 7-1 victory, and were able to find scoring from six different players to move on to round two. The Sabres moved on to defeat the Maple Leafs two straight, outscoring them 7-2 in the along the way, including a 5-1 game two victory which saw Ethan Edwards record 4 points (1G 3A). Ryley Morgan and Austin Spiridakis have led the way offensively for St. Albert and are currently tied at eight points a piece (3G 5A).
There are a number of high end WHL draft prospects who will be showcased in this series, including underage forward Matthew Savoie who managed 61 points through 35 games this season. Highly touted defenceman Michael Benning has led St. Albert from the back end all season, with ’03 Marc Lajoie logging big minutes as well. Up front, the Sabres have a number of forwards who will be selected this coming May, Ryley Morgan, Austin Spiridakis, Carter Savoie, and Ethan Leyer will all be leaned on throughout this series to find the back of the net. Fort Saskatchewan’s Sebastian Cossa has been stellar all year and will have to carry that throughout this series. Noah Boyko, Alex Thacker, Raphael Pelletier, and Matthew Boucher will be looked upon for scoring, however the emergence of Riley Fiddler-Schultz gives them another weapon.
This is expected to be an extremely tight series, each team boasting a high octane offense with the ability to strike at any point. Both defensive corps have rounded out their game over the course of the season, and have had very strong goaltending coming into this series. One of the key factors will be who can do the best scoring in transition and catching the other teams defence by surprise. With such a strong defensive group in St. Albert, led by top prospect Michael Benning, Fort will have to be able to attack with speed and make a point of generating odd man rushes. The Rangers have proven to be a tight defensive zone squad, so St. Albert will need to find a way to make in game adjustments in order to generate chances in the cycle against a tight checking team.
No matter which team moves on at the end of this series, we know from the December 22nd game that it will be a thriller worth getting out to. Game one takes place tonight at the Akinsdale Arena in St. Albert, with the remainder of the games coming on Thursday, Saturday, and if necessary Sunday and Tuesday. You can find schedule and scoring updates here –> http://www.ambhl.ab.ca
