South Alberta Hockey Academy U18 male prep forward Roman Cherniak steps out from behind the net with the puck while Edge School U17 goaltender Cam Hrdlicka defends during a Canadian Sport School Hockey League game on Friday, Oct. 16 at the Canalta Centre. -- NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
South Alberta Hockey Academy’s U18 male prep squad will face a true test this weekend when they hit the ice for three road games in as many days against the Canadian Sport School Hockey League’s reigning regular season champion Northern Alberta Xtreme.
After opening the season at 1-2-0 in a three-game set against the Edge School U17 squad, SAHA will face off against their first U18 opponent in the Xtreme – who opened their campaign with a three-game sweep of Okanagan Hockey Academy Edmonton.
“Obviously they’re a premier team in this league,” said SAHA U18 male prep head coach Brayden Desjardins. “They’re going to be really tough games. They have a lot of skill over there. They’ve done a great job with their program. It’s a good test for us, just to see where we’re at, where we fit in. I’m hoping that we’re going to come out on the positive side this weekend.”
The boys will be itching to get back into action after serving their first 14-day non-competition break of the season – a league mandate separating three-game series in a divisional schedule brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Desjardins says the mandatory hiatus comes with a few challenges, but it allowed SAHA to iron out some kinks from their opening series against Edge. “Obviously it makes it challenging with guys kind of getting out of the groove of being in game environments, but it’s been good for our guys,” he said. “It gives us a little bit more adequate time to prepare and go over some of the issues we saw in our first couple games and make corrections, so we’ll be excited for this weekend.”
The three-game swing in Edmonton will also serve as SAHA’s first extended road trip, as the team played two of its three games against Edge School on home ice at the Canalta Centre last month. Desjardins says it will be a good experience for his young players – many of whom are hoping to crack spots on Western Hockey League or Alberta Junior Hockey League rosters in the near future.
“It’ll be the first one where we’re on the road for the few nights so it’ll definitely be a challenge. It’s really good for the guys to get back into that environment,” said Desjardins. “A lot of our players are protected by WHL teams or AJHL teams, so for them to get a glimpse of what the next level looks like on a bit of a prolonged road trip is really good.”
With three games in less than 72 hours, SAHA will be leaning on both Marek Andres and Bodee Weiss between the pipes this weekend. Weiss picked up SAHA’s lone win with 29 saves in a 5-1 battle on Oct. 17 at the Canalta Centre, but Andres still managed a .941 save percentage over two games in the blue paint, including 27 stops in a 1-0 loss to open the season on Oct. 16.
“Bodee and Marek have both been really, really good this year. Even with the small sample size, guys have confidence in both of them,” said Desjardins. “It’s huge for us to have a tandem like that, especially on a three-games-in-three-nights road trip.”
