BROOKS, AB (September 17, 2021) – A historic night at the Centennial Regional Arena as the Brooks Bandits (1-0) opened their 2021-22 Regular Season with a dominate 17-0 win over the Blackfalds Bulldogs in front of 1,091 fans, the largest crowd at a Bandits game since February of 2020.
The win was the largest in team history (previous record was 13-1 vs Canucks on Dec 11, 2012 and 12-0 vs Grizzlys on Oct 20, 2018), as well as the largest shutout win in team history, and 3rd largest shutout win in AJHL history (largest since 1973).
The game was also the Bulldogs first ever regular season game.
Highlights presented by Days Inn & Suites:
Bandits defenceman Brendan Kennette (Sacred Heart) and Jack Seymour (Holy Cross) both had hat tricks, and goaltender Jared Whale made 22 saves in the win.
Brooks opened the scoring 4:38 into the game, as defenceman Boston Buckberger (Wisconsin) scored from the left point on a wrist shot. That was followed by a one-timer by Anthony Cipollone from a behind the net pass from Nic DeGraves at 5:43 to make it 2-0. The Bandits extended the lead to 3-0 four minutes later as Kennette wristed a goal from the right circle.
Bandits forward Jack Seymour (Holy Cross) got a rebound and scored on the forehand at 11:12 to make it 4-0. Then, at 16:34 defenceman Hughie Hooker finished off a netfront pass from Devin Phillips (Holy Cross) to make it 5-0. Kennette added another goal at 16:54 after scoring top shelf on the Bulldog net. Finally, Bandits forward Ryan McAllister (Western Michigan) scored on a forehand shot in the final minute to make it 7-0. Shots in the 1st were 18-9 Brooks.
The 2nd period saw Brooks defenceman Zach Bookman (Merrimack) slapshot a top shelf shot 1:44 in to make it 8-0. This was followed by a Thomas Cusson tip in at 5:07. Then, at 12:49 on the powerplay, forward Aiden Fink (Wisconsin) cleaned up a loose puck in the crease to make it 10-0. In the final four minutes of the period, McAllister scored another powerplay goal on a forehand shot, followed by Seymour’s 2nd on a left circle shot to make it 12-0. Shots were 11-10 Brooks in the period.
Bandits forward Brendan Poshak (Northern Michigan) scored top shelf for his first AJHL goal 2:52 into the 3rd. This was followed by Kennette completing the hat trick at 4:12 on the powerplay to make it 14-0. Fink, Buckberger and Seymour shorthanded rounded out the final three goals of the game to make it 17-0, the final. Shots were 14-3 Bandits in the period, and 43-22 overall.
The Bandits continue their Home Opener weekend on Saturday when they entertain the Drumheller Dragons at the CRA. The Bandits will be wearing their Black Scotiabank Third Jerseys. Puck drop is 7:00 pm, with tickets available at tickets.brooksbandits.ca.
You can also follow the game on Hockeytv.com and Real Country 105.7 FM with Nathan Crosby and Ken Fleury.