The Athabasca Aces were close, but not close enough in a pair of games last weekend.
On Friday night they played host to the Devon Barons and lost 7-5. On Saturday they were in Drayton Valley and lost 6-5 in a shootout.
The Aces didn’t bring their best effort to the rink with them on Friday, according to head coach Curtis Creaser.
“It wasn’t our best game against them. They beat us doing the little things,” said the coach.
There were positives in the game, specifically special teams as the Aces’ power play was firing on all cylinders, with three goals coming with the man advantage.
“It was a really fast-paced and entertaining game for the fans, for sure,” said the coach. “It wasn’t very chippy, but it was very fast, back-and-forth hockey. Devon did a really good job; they outworked us.”
The next night in Drayton Valley, the Aces were unable to ice a full team, but they also may have spent all of their enthusiasm against Devon.
“Emotionally we weren’t engaged. We weren’t as urgent or intense as we had been,” noted Creaser.
The Aces almost doubled the Wildcats on the shot clock, but they still didn’t have many meaningful scoring chances according to the coach, and they spent most of the game playing catch-up on their way to the shootout loss.
“We got a point out if it, but we should have won the game. We’re a better team,” said the coach. “Consistency is our nemesis. That and attention to detail.”
The team may benefit from the break it will receive this weekend. They will host the Barons next weekend in one of their last two games before the Christmas break.
“We need to beat Devon. I think they’re looking back at us as their closest competition. They show up ready to play and we need to do the same.”
