BROOKS, AB (September 17, 2016) – The Brooks Bandits (1-1) of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) rhymed off one of the biggest wins for any team in the young 2016-17 season so far, steamrolling the visiting Calgary Mustangs (0-2) by an 8-1 score at the Centennial Regional Arena on Saturday night.
After allowing the opening goal, Brooks recorded eight straight of its own, outshooting Calgary 48-15 in the game despite a 7-3 power play disadvantage.
Despite an 11-3 shot advantage in the first, the teams came out even when a Yuri Chernichko backdoor tap-in on an early power play was responded to just over halfway through the period by Bandit forward Jake Theis’ (Chanhassen, MN) first Junior A goal, collecting a deflected Nic Hamre (Ottawa, ON) shot and firing it past goalie Tyler Van Vliet to make it 1-1.
Brooks veteran Josh McKechney (Calgary, AB) scored the game-winning goal only 47 seconds into the second off the rush on a power play, taking a feed from linemate Parker Foo (Edmonton, AB) and backhanding in his first of the year.
Later in the second, Cale Makar found his own rebound at the 15:48 mark and deposited a quick second shot past Van Vliet to make it 3-1, while less than a minute later Hamre scored his first as a Bandit, tipping home a centering feed from Theis for a 4-1 advantage after two periods.
The Bandits added four more in the third, off of the sticks of just two different players. David D’Agostino (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON) one-timed a puck in from the left circle just 46 seconds into the period for a 5-1 advantage, while Oliver Chau (Oakville, ON) followed up at the 5:50 mark, tapping home a backdoor pass from veteran Ty Mappin (Big Valley, AB) on the power play for his second goal of the year.
D’Agostino notched his second of the game less than a minute after that, when Parker Foo slipped a puck from behind the net to the side of the cage, where the sneaking-in defenceman flipped it over a scrambling Van Vliet for a 7-1 advantage. Chau capped off the scoring with his second of the game at the 17:36 mark, poking home a loose puck after a Tyler Carangelo (Hamden, CT) breakaway shot off of a turnover.
The Bandits went 2 for 3 on the power play and 6 for 7 on the penalty kill, while rookie goaltender Tony Rehm (Sun Prairie, WI) stopped 14 of 15 Calgary shots for his first win of his Junior A career.
Brooks travels to Olds on Tuesday night for the team’s first road game of the season against the Grizzlys starting at 7:00 PM, before returning home to face the upstart Whitecourt Wolverines on Friday.