RAMHL REPORT

Welcome to the RAMHL Report, our page dedicated to the adventures of our two Midget AA teams competing in the Rural Alberta Midget Hockey League - Edge Gold and Edge Maroon.

Please visit www.ramhl.com for full schedules, standings, stats and rosters of this exciting 8 team league.

EDGE MAROON SAVES BEST FOR LAST & WINS RAMHL CHAMPIONSHIP

Edge Maroon played perhaps it best game of the entire 2009-10 season and thumped the SISEC Selects 8-2 on Saturday night to clinch the RAMHL Championship 3 games to 1.  Head Coach and RAMHL Coach of the Year Jason Stewart saw his troops roar back friom a brief SISEC lead and complete the year in fine fashion.

SISEC superstar Rihards 'White Skates" Marenis opened the scoring on another outstanding display of skill with a wrist shot which eluded Maroon netminder Kyle Baumgardner. SISEC used the goal to pour on the pressure with Baumer holding the fort. Maroon F (and All-star in his own right) Harrison Hendrix even the count at one apiece with a breakaway off a broken play from the far blueline.  He calmly settled down a rolling puck and went 5-hole on SISEC All-star 'keeper Mischa Haeuselmann. No sooner had the Edge fans settled in after much cheering when a spectacular play from F Ryan Friesen to a whirling, turning and spinning F Aspen Sterzer found the back of the net to give Maroon a lead they would not relinquish.

The middle frame opened with more heavy body blows, tenacious forechecking and relentless attacking - and that was just the line-up to grab snacks.  On the ice the play was just as exciting.  In quick order F Damien Kukynych showed how he has developed into a prototypical power forward with soft hands as he took a long gorgeous pass, went in all alone on the SISEC cage and slipped a deke between the pads to put Edge up by a pair. Under-rated D Carson Hagerman finished off a nice PP feed to put Maroon up by a trio of biscuits. Bearded D Davey Randall snapped home a fifth Maroon goal from the point and F Austin Hall played pat-a-cake with a SISEC defender before turning the SISEC goalie inside out and tucked the rubber in far side to provide a nice 6-1 cushion. Marenis pulled SISEC to within four goals with a tricky bit of play with a mere 6.4 seconds remaining in the second.

Now this writer has seen SISEC come storming back froma 4-goal deficit before - this was not an insurmountable lead.  Marenis and SISEC's other stars F Zachary Lindsay and F Adam Harding would see the ice a lot - SISEC had no choice but to go for broke in the last period.  Stewart figured as much and the Maroon forchecking actually increased in pressure.  The pay-off was a seventh goal on a Sterzer slapper and an eighth on a billiard shot by F Brendan Hopkins.

This was a great team effort - Gosbee's turn around snapshot turned away at the last moment; Dormer's refusal to succumb to pain; Baumer turning aside chance after chance; Libin winning the crucial 4th game; Standish being Standish (taking no guff and dishing out plenty himself); Hagerman efficiently playing the game as it should be played; Campbell laying out big hits; Primeau-Brown-Hall providing the muscle and glass-rattling banging; Sterzer-Amantea-Friesen proving the splash and dash; Hendrix-Hopkins-Kulynych providing the sizzle and snap; Randall keeping Lindsay and Marenis in check; Stewart-Lyle Feser-Mike Carlsen manning the bench with Mountaineer Pride; Alana Dyrland patching the boys up and getting them ready for their next shift.

The final buzzer sounded, the lads poured off the bench, gloves and sticks strewn around like Edge was holding a massive Saturday night yard sale, tears flowing, handshakes and hugs aplenty.  The Fountain Tire Cup presented - Captains Brown, Hendrix, Standish and Friesen pasing around the RAMHL Holy Grail, pictures taken, thanks given, sticks hoisted in the air, sweaty brows patted and just like that this 2009-10 season was a wrap.

When interviewed after the game, Edge Maroon noted that "this win was for the school, our Edge community, our families, friends and everyone who supported us from that opening night game in September".

Please click here for a photo album of post-game celebrations.

EDGE MAROON FINALLY PLAYS MOUNTAINEER HOCKEY AND GRABS 2-1 LEAD

Edge Maroon put together a tidy 60 minutes for the first time in this final series and upended SISEC 7-3 in a Thursday afternoon tilt.  SISEC came into the match riding the high of a 3-1 win on Monday (despite being severely out-shot in that game) and the return of All-Star Rihards Marenis to the line-up.

F Harrison Hendrix finished a nice passing play with F Damien Kulynych to put Maroon up by 1. SISEC responded on a freaky bouncer which hit 37 sticks, a piece of broken tractor and some bad ice en route to eluding Edge G Louis Libin. That would be the only rubber not cleanly played by Lou as he stoned SISEC time and time again allowing Maroon to gather its collective legs and power through a tentative Swiss squad with a strong four goal middle frame and a solid two goal final period - Hendrix completed the hat trick, Captain Crunch F Craig Brown notched a brace with singles going to F Ben Primeau and F Aspen Sterzer.  F Kulynych, D Ryan Dormer, D Davey Randall, F Cam Amantea and F Austin Hall each collected a pair of helpers.

Perhaps the most telling feature of the game was not the scoring out-burst or the tic-tac-toe plays but the physicality - Hall, Brown, Randall, F Brendan Hopkins, D Brett Campbell and F John Gosbee, amongst others, cleanly but enthusiastically rocking SISEC puck-carriers all over the ice from start to finish.

Solid games to D Carson Hagerman and D Andrew Standish on the back-end and F Ryan Friesen on the forecheck. All in all the classic well-played game with significant contributions from each and every player. Gosbee blocking shots, Amantea playing point on the PP, Hall and Hopkins keeping D-men honest, Sterzer blazing up the ice, Primeau showing his dad how skating is really done, Dormer going from infirmary to ice without even once wincing......

SISEC stars Zachary Lindsay, Adam Harding, Davis Sprukts and Jan Tuescher played well and made sure Edge knew no lead was safe until the final buzzer - Maroon had better be ready next game!

Maroon has two chances to wrap up their magical season - Saturday at the old Cochrane Arena with a 5:15 pm puck drop and, if necessary, Sunday back at Edge with a 11:15 am puck drop.

Here's hoping the Fountain Tire Cup is hoisted by Captain Craig on Saturday night.

SISEC NOTCHES SERIES AT 1 GAME APIECE

OK, so the usual recipe for a road win in the play-offs is really quite simple.

1. Come out hitting, shut down a high-powered offence and grab a first period lead.  Check.

2. Out-shoot the home team by about a 2-1 margin. Check.

3. Keep their big guns off the scoresheet. Check.

Edge Maroon somehow angered the hockey gods though on Monday night as SISEC skated away with a 3-1 win in Game 2 to even the Finals at one game apiece.  F Damien Kulynych powered out of the corner after heavy body work by linemates F Brendan Hopkins and F Harrison Hendrix, muscling the puck through the SISEC 'keeper as Maroon staked out its position with a 1-0 first period lead.  The SISEC D-men were crushed against all manner of objects in that opening frame - the end -boards, the side-boards, the net, each other... Edge looked poised to snag a 2-0 series lead.

The heavy slugging slowed down in the middle frame as both teams appeared a tad tentative. SISEC popped two goals by period's end to earn the 2-1 lead.  Edge poured it on in the last twenty minutes but could not capitalize on two 2-0 breakaways and a 5-3 powerplay.

Edge netminders Kyle Baumgardner and Louis Libin (early in the 3rd period) made several key saves amongst the 26 shots fired their way.  Edge launched 46 biscuits at the SISEC cage, success coming only on that opening goal. F Aspen Sterzer and F Austin Hall had strong games for Maroon.

Game three is set for Thursday at 3:30 pm back in the friendly confines of the Kyle Stuart.

EDGE MAROON WIN GAME ONE IN COME-FROM-BEHIND FASHION

"One down and two more wins to go" was how Head Coach Jason Stewart described his team's exciting win in the opening game of the RAMHL Finals with SISEC.  Behind that quiet confidence was a frantic third period and plenty of heart-stopping plays.

Maroon found themselves down 3-1 heading in that third period in Saturday's game despite outshooting and generally outplaying the very talented but often enigmatic SISEC squad.  SISEC's three goals were of the high-skill variety and were the kind of goals that beat any goaltender.  It just did not feel like a 3-1 game however even given that Maroon still had not shown their real "A" game.

That authentic "A" game finally came out in fine form in the third period though.  This was the kind of comeback Maroon began making a regular part of their arsenal starting with a come-from-behind win in the very first game of the regular season. The comeback really started late in the second when rugged F Brendan Hopkins scored the ice-breaker on a slot turnaround after some nice work by linemates F Harrison Hendrix and F Damien Kulynych.

Maroon mounted their offensive strikes during a powerplay opportunity early in the final frame.  Taking a dish from D Davey Randall, F Aspen Stezer worked his down the ice and with a sweet feed from F Cam Amantea banged home Maroon's second marker and cut the SISEC lead to one.  Before the ink was dry on the scoresheet, Hendrix converted a pass from D Andrew Standish and snapped home the tying goal. Maroon continued the pressure - playing a unique blend of forechecking and neutral zone D, hoping to counter SISEC's high powered brand of long bomb and schoolyard hockey plays.  The Stewy hockey plan worked to a tee as Captain Craig Brown scored a Crosby-like game winner with about six minutes to go after some outstanding work from fellow linemates F Austin Hall and F Ben Primeau as well as D-men Carson Hagerman and Standish.

Maroon hung on thanks to great defensive work by all.  The win would not have been possible without outstanding efforts up and down the line-up including D Brett Campbell, G Kyle Baumgardner, F Ryan Friesen and F John Gosbee delivering timely hits, chips and saves.

Game two goes Monday night at the Spray Lakes Arena at 8:15 pm with Game three back at Edge Thursday afternoon at 3:30 pm.

SISEC will come out very hard in the next game - you can count on that!  SISEC All-stars F Zachary Lindsey and F Adam Harding are a joy to watch and G Mischa Haeuselmann regularly puts on goaltending clinics. Maroon had better by ready from the opening face-off.

EDGE MAROON IN RAMHL FINALS WITH SISEC

RAMHL SEASON ENDS ON HIGH NOTE

The Rural Alberta Midget Hockey League completed another successful season as all eight teams stayed competitive until the final whistle.  Final league standings:

EDGE ALL-STARS SHINE IN ANNUAL RAMHL STARS TILT

Once again, Edge hockey players seized the opportunity to shine at a league all-star game as 11 Edgers suited up for Team South in the annual RAMHL All-Star game held this past week-end in Fort McMurray.  The Edge teams are running neck and neck for the RAMHL lead and that competitive spirit was quite evident at the all-star tilt. Led by goalie Jared D'Amico's 30 minutes of shut-out hockey, Aspen Sterzer's Team South "Player of the Game" honours, Joel Hamilton's key goal and Derek Thorogood's two assists, the Edge 11 showed the fans why they are the class of the RAMHL at this stage in the season.

Edge D-men Ryan Blanchard, Ryan O'Rourke, Davey Randall and Ryan Dormer provided steady heads up hockey from start to finish, keeping opposition shots to a minimum and clearing away most dangerous rebounds. Coda Gordon, Craig Brown (Team South Captain), Harrison Hendrix, Hamilton, Sterzer and Thorogood supplied speed, skill and grit in the highly competitive affair.

Unlike most league all-star games, this one featured plenty of pop - heavy hits both along the boards and in open ice; booming drives from the point and slot areas; and net-crashing play.

Great game...oh, and by the way, Team South won 7-2 in rather convincing fashion.  Check out the game summary at http://www.camrosekodiaks.com/ramhl/2010allstargame.pdf.

FEATURE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK  - SPOTLIGHT ON THE 4 EDGE GOALTENDERS

In the Game of Hockey (as Wayne Gretzky calls it – it is never just “Hockey” but “The Game of Hockey”), the ultimate responsibility for protecting the fort rests with the goaltender. This is unfair at times as a bad pinch or a poor fore-check attempt in the opposition’s zone may result in a goal in your net 15 seconds later and there really be no fault properly placed at the skates of the goaltender. Goalies need be mentally tough – all season long in order to provide their teams with the right chance for success every game.