The Bulldogs faced off against the Spruce Grove Saints last Tuesday night at the EBC. The Saints had a bit of a disadvantage at the beginning of the game because one of their players didn’t leave the ice in time before the warm-up buzzer sounded. I observed the player being a little late in getting off the ice as well. I honestly thought the referee might not have noticed or chosen not to call the penalty, but to my surprise, they did.
The Saints got things going early in the first period, finding the back of the net at the 8:12 mark. Marcus Fechko, got his second goal of the preseason, led the way. Assisting on the opening goal were Adam Lang and Briercrest, SK native 17 year old Bryson Aikens, putting the Saints up 1-0. Just a bit over three minutes later, at 11:48 of the first period, Raritan, New Jersey native Marcus Fechko struck again, securing his second goal of the night and his third of the preseason. This extended the Saints’ lead to 2-0, with 16 year old Cole Kronewitt and Beaumont, Alberta native Daine Dellezay providing the assists. The older Fechko, Trey, joined the scoring frenzy just over a minute later, at 12:54, with the assist coming from Hunter Brown, a Fort St. John, BC native with a nice mullet.
The Bulldogs got on the board at 15:05 when Edward Moskowitz scored his second goal of the preseason from his knees. Assist to St Louis native 19 year old Ben Winkelmann. Moskowitz has been very impressive all camp and preseason so far. Looking at Moskowitz stats the other day on Elite Prospects the guy has played with alot of impressive players. Check out the midget team he played for in Ontario. A few famous names there.
At 4:40 into the second period Connor Dick scored his 3rd goal of the preseason. Assisted by David Brandes. This cuts the Saints lead and its now 3-2.
At 9:05 of the second period veteran and Beaumont, Alberta native Ryder Matter scored his second goal of the preseason. Assists on the goal to Bradley Gallo and Trey Fechko it is now 4-2.
17 year old Lloydminster, AB native Haden Heide went in and relieved netminder Noah Davis for the Bulldogs half way through the game at 4-2. Exhibition game split duties.
Edward Moskowitz scored his second goal of the night (another nice looking goal) and third of the season from 17 year old Calgary native Nolan Dupont and Tanner Willick at 9:43 of the third period to make it a 4-3 game. But that wasn’t enough. Even with a power play with under 3 minutes left in the game and a pulled goalie Bulldogs couldn’t tie the game up.
The Bulldogs will have to wait until October 21st to get their first ever franchise victory against the Saints.
Ryan De Kok from Lethbridge had a solid performance in the net, managing to stop 15 out of the 18 shots directed at him. He did encounter a minor setback when he had to sit out for about 2 minutes due to a skate blade issue, during which Joseph Quintilio took over. Interestingly, Quintilio faced no shots during his brief stint.
On the Bulldogs’ side, Noah Davis was the starting goaltender and made 11 saves out of the 15 shots fired at him. However, at the halfway point of the game, he handed the reins to the rookie Haden Heide, a 17-year-old talent from Lloydminster. Heide impressively stopped all 8 shots he faced.
As for the standout performers of the game, according to the AJHL website, Marcus Fechko earned the title of star player for the Saints, while Edward Moskowitz claimed the same honor for the Bulldogs. These choices appear quite obvious, and it’s hard to argue against them.
I would really hate to be anyone in the Bulldogs management right now as there are a lot of good kids still left trying out and you can’t have a team with 7 lines and 12 defenceman.
Bulldogs next game is Friday September 8th in Bonnyville at 7pm. The Bulldogs next home game is Saturday September 9th at 6pm at the EBC.