CANMORE – The ups and downs of managing a Junior A hockey roster continues to affect the Canmore Eagles with the latest case being their top goalie absent from the line-up.
Alex Scheiwiller was called up to the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League; however, the 20-year-old is expected to return to Canmore this month as the first-place Eagles prepare to take a run at the league’s top prize, the Inter Pipeline Cup.
He was brought into the Blazers fold as an affiliate player addition while the club’s main goalie Dylan Ernst is out of the line-up with an injury.
“Hopefully [Ernst] is back soon and I’m back in Canmore. I don’t want to miss too much time there,” said Scheiwiller.
“I think [my time in Kamloops] helps me as a goalie. I get to work here with a really good goalie coach and learn things, just to bring it back to Canmore, so I’m able to succeed more when I’m back.”
A top AJHL goalie, Scheiwiller has gained attention from different leagues with a 17-6-4 record, a .923 save percentage and 2.34 goals against average (GAA). This includes a stellar December when the Calgary-born goalie went 5-1-1 with a .942 save percentage.
Scheiwiller debuted with the Blazers on Jan. 29, relieving another rookie goaltender in Logan Edmonstone in the third period against the Tri-City Amercians when the team was down 5-2. Scheiwiller played a little more than 17 minutes and had one GAA.
He also relieved Edmonstone at the start of the second period of Sunday’s (Feb. 2) game against the Vancouver Giants, when the Blazers were down 4-0. Scheiwiller finished the game with five goals against on 15 shots.
“It’s definitely different,” said Scheiwiller. “There are some high-end NHL draft picks and some of the best junior players in the world in the league so it’s good, it’s definitely faster, and everyone can shoot the puck, everyone can skate, it’s definitely a better league.”
Scheiwiller got his blessing from the Eagles to head west and fill in for the short period. In the meantime, he is being replaced by Calgary Edge School’s Leif Oaten, 15, as Canmore’s back-up goalie after Hudson Sedo.
With players moving to different leagues this season and readjusting the hockey landscape, Scheiwiller’s absence between the pipes in the Eagles Nest was noticeable in a time of uncertainty.
Earlier this season, Sedo tried out for the Prince Albert Raiders following the NCAA’s ruling to allow major juniors to join their ranks. And while the netminder returned to the Eagles, others haven’t.
One of the Eagles’ top forwards, Zach Coutu, abruptly left the club in December to join the Trail Smoke Eaters of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) and it is expected that teams outside of the AJHL have continuously tried to recruit other top talent from the local club.
“It is kind of the trend right now and where we’re going with the game is that we have to be OK with this,” said Andrew Milne, Eagles head coach and general manager. “It is a bit of a challenge, a lot more homework going into player recruitment and player research … It has been a lot more work.”
Although, the Eagles have been doing homework ahead of the BCHL’s transfer deadline on Monday (Feb. 10). While the AJHL deadline has passed, the Eagles are actively looking to bulk up their roster by recruiting from the independent league.
“It’s the wild wild west,” said Milne, “because now you can phone any player in B.C. and if they want to leave, they can leave up until the 10th, and vice versa. One of our players could walk out and leave us … It’s a bit of a challenge. It’s unique to what we’ve done in the past.”
The Eagles’ next three games are Friday (Feb. 7) in Drumheller against the Dragons; Sunday at home against the Fort McMurray Oil Barons; and Tuesday in Banff against the Lloydminster Bobcats.
