The Athabasca Aces got all they could have wished for at their last regular season game of 2013: an overtime win against the division leading Devon Barons.
Aces coach Curtis Creaser said there was an electric sense of confidence from the moment the team arrived at the Dale Fisher Arena in Devon last Saturday.
“I could sense it in the (dressing) room, throughout the game and on the bench. The guys felt like they could win, and it was just a matter of sticking to the game plan and throwing lots of pucks at the goalie.”
That confidence proved well founded, as the Aces won 6-5.
“As a team we really came together, and it was a really good boost for the team morale. To beat the first-place team in the league — it just shows where we’re really at compared to what our standings show,” said Creaser.
The Aces sit in fourth place out of five teams in the North Central Hockey League’s north division, but they lorded over the first-place Barons, particularly in the game’s opening moments. Creaser said the Aces outshot the Barons about 8-0 in the first 10 minutes and were up 1-0 halfway through the first. The Aces ran into penalty trouble, though, and the Barons pulled ahead 2-1 by the end of the first.
Creaser said the second period was “back and forth” but ended with the Barons holding on to the lead 4-3.
“It seemed like when we played physical, we were dominating them. But when we backed off from being physical, they have a very, very fast team, and they put us on our heels a little bit,” he said.
The Barons opened scoring in the third, bringing the score to 5-3, but the Aces answered with a fourth goal of their own about 12 minutes into the third. Towards the end, the Aces pulled their goalie, and with 30 seconds left, Justin Tebbenham scored on a rebound, which ended regular play at 5-5 and forced overtime.
“We kind of knew we were going to win the game once we tied it up,” confided Creaser. “We outplayed them for the most part.”
He conceded, however, “They definitely had us penned into our zone a few times, and their power play was quite good.”
The Aces’ lucky charm — or skilled addition, rather — came in the form of Keith Reade, who has not played with the team since pre-season. Reade’s solid pass to Keegan Desroches allowed Desroches to score the Aces’ winning goal 30 seconds into overtime. In all, Reade racked up five points in his first regular season game.
“He was a driving force for us,” said Creaser.
Creaser said Reade’s absence from Aces games was a result of him working out of town a lot, as well as Reade’s high self-expectations.
“He wanted to make sure he was in good shape and could perform well,” said Creaser, noting that Reade has a storied hockey past, having won the Junior A championship with a Saskatchewan team in the early 2000s.
“We’re hoping he’ll be in the lineup from here on out,” said Creaser.
Other standout players on Saturday included Eric Creaser and Sean Wrusch, as well as Tanner Chamberlain. Though Chamberlain was kicked out of the game after a second-period fight, Coach Creaser had nothing but positive things to say about the defenceman.
“It was his aggressiveness and enthusiasm that was part of the team feeling like we could win.”
Creaser said while the Aces don’t have a rigorous practice schedule over the holidays, he is looking into exhibition games against a team from B.C.
“There’s a possibility that we might have a couple exhibition games in Athabasca on (Dec.) 28 and 29,” he said.
