St. Paul Jr. B Canadiens sweep first two wins

The St. Paul Junior B Canadiens hit the road on Friday and Saturday and swept their first two wins in the NEAJBHL regular season. 

On Friday, the Canadiens took their first regular season game win 11-1, against the Vegreville Rangers. Canadiens Head Coach Corey Demoissac said they started the first period pretty slowly, but got more comfortable as the game went along, leading to the massive victory. 

“As the game got going, we started moving the puck and using our speed, which is our strength,” said Demoissac. 

“The boys started to find the net and just kept going.” 

St. Paul’s Parker Sabatier opened the game with a goal in the first two minutes and the Canadiens ended the first period ahead 2-1. 

Acting captain Noah Balmer said they had a couple of missed chances. 

“We had a couple of missed chances and gave them a couple quality chances that we shouldn’t have,” said Balmer. 

“We got to support up high, get a lot more finished hits, and bearing down on passes.” 

The team kept finding the net and having strong defence holding the Vegreville Rangers back. The Canadiens scoed three goals in the second and six in the third winning their first regular season game 11-1. 

Rivalry renewed

On Saturday, the Canadiens hit the road to face last year’s first-round playoff rivals in the Lloyd Bandits. 

Both teams were coming off of a win, the Canadiens pushed and took a decisive 9-4 victory. Assistant Coach Scott Chartrand said they were going to see the intensity pick up. 

“We did have a good playoff series against them last year. It was good, exciting hockey, and I expect some of the same,” said Chartrand. 

The Canadiens started the first period off slow, trailing by a score of 2-0. 

Canadiens Captain Isaac Watters said they need to focus on bearing down. 

“One of those goals there was just not getting the puck out. So let’s make sure we get the puck past that blue line and the rest should sort itself out,” said Watters. 

St. Paul started the second period off strong scoring three goals tying the Lloyd Bandits 3-3 going into the third. 

St. Paul’s new player Kohlsin Bear, scored his first NEAJBHL marker. Bear said they did really good in the second period, but they just need to put more pucks on the net. 

“We just gotta keep talking, and put more pucks on net. And like I said, we have to throw more bodies around to make our presence,” said Bear. 

The rival tension from last years season came out in the third period. There were nine penalties for both the Canadiens and the Bandits. Four players from the Bandits and three of the Canadians got thrown from the game.

The tension didn’t stop the Canadiens from hustling and putting the puck on the net. The Canadiens scored six goals in the third, beating the Lloyd Bandits 9-4. 

The Canadiens play Onion Lake on Saturday in St. Paul for the Canadiens home opener. 

Season kickoff party

Don’t miss hypnotist Wayne Lee come to the St. Paul Rec Centre on Friday night for the Canadiens’ season kickoff party. Tickets are $25 on EventBrite.

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