CANMORE, AB (MARCH 1, 2023) – Wilson Maxfield stopped all 34 shots he faced, while the Brooks Bandits penalty kill went for five for five in a 4-0 blanking of the Canmore Eagles at the Recreation Centre on Wednesday.
The Bandits (52-5-2) have tied the 3rd most wins in AJHL history in a season with 52, matching the win total from last year’s Centennial Cup winning team. The Bandits have one regular season game remaining on Sunday in Olds. If they win the game, they will tie the 2012-13 Brooks Bandits with 53 wins, second most in team history in a single season.
Forward Luke Bibby (Brantford, ON) opened the scoring just 2:32 into the game, taking a Dario Beljo (Sudbury, ON) point pass and sliding a five-hole shot past Eagles starter Andreai Proctor-Ramirez to make it 1-0. The Bandits killed off seven minutes of penalties to wrap up the period with the lead.
Forward Caelan Fitzpatrick (Moose Jaw, SK) doubled the lead to 2-0 at 4:39 of the 2nd period, after fighting off a hit and gaining the Eagles zone, he let a forehand shot fly from the left circle. The Bandits then killed off three more penalties before tripling the lead to 3-0 at 17:02, as defenceman Ethan Beyer (Centennial, CO) tapped in a Brendan Poshak (Green Bay, WI) pass.
The Bandits first powerplay came in the 3rd period following a kneeing call against Vincent Scott of the Eagles. Beljo cleaned up a rebound from a Hudson Malinoski (Saskatoon, SK) shot on the powerplay to make it 4-0. Maxfield shut the door the rest of the way for the win, final shots were 42-34 Brooks. It was Maxfield’s (Kelowna, BC) third career shutout.
Brooks is on an 11-game winning streak, and have won six straight on the road.
The Bandits conclude the regular season on Sunday, March 5th, when they visit the Olds Grizzlys. Game time is 4:00 pm, with live coverage on Real Country 105.7 FM.