The Athabasca Aces lost an exhibition game against league newcomers the Morinville Kings last Friday due to a surprisingly tough third period during which, in the words of coach Curtis Creaser, “the wheels fell off.”
“I think they had three goals in about three minutes,” said Creaser of the Kings’ rush midway through the third period. “And actually, one goal got called off, so it would have been four.”
Until those few minutes, the Aces had, for the most part, held a commanding lead. While Morinville was the first to score in front of a large Athabasca crowd at the multiplex (eight minutes into the first period), the Kings’ jubilation was short-lived: a minute later, Aces assistant captain Travis Duperron’s slapshot rocketed past Morinville’s goaltender.
At the end of the first period, the score was 2-1 for the Aces.
Creaser characterized that period as strong and physical for the Aces.
“And then they brought it back in the second period, and I thought we shied away a little bit,” he said, despite the fact the Aces widened their lead, ending the second period 4-2.
“We struggled physically. We got some goals and were up on them two goals, but the momentum started to swing in the second period,” he said.
The third-period upset resulted in a final score of 6-5 for the Kings. Still, Creaser noted that the value in pre-season games is not in victories, but in learning about the players and what they need to work on — and getting the fans into the stands.
“It was nice to see that there was a decent amount of fans out. It’s good to see the support back again,” he said.
As for the takeaway, Creaser said the Aces need to focus on their defence — a realization he came to at the team’s first exhibition game on Sept. 28.
“We let too many odd-man rushes happen,” he said, adding that, offensively, “We had a decent amount of shots, and I felt that we went to the net well.”
Friday’s game was also a chance for Creaser to evaluate players, as the Aces’ roster has yet to be firmed up.
“I thought some of the new guys that are fighting to get on the team played quite well, and I thought some of the veterans didn’t play as well,” he said, noting this makes the evaluation process quite tough.
He said newcomer Alfred Lavallee, who scored two goals, stood out.
Dupperon, Sean Wrusch and Gerald Desjarlais each had one goal and one assist, while returning goaltender Jeff Creaser stopped 34 shots.
Though the team can carry 35 players, Creaser wants a lean team of 25. Right now, there are about 29 players gunning for a spot on the roster, which will likely be finalized a few weeks into the regular season.
The Aces will play Slave Lake in their home opener Oct. 19 at 8:30 p.m. at the multiplex.
