The Spruce Grove Saints (0-1-0-0) will look for their first win of the season in their first road game of the 2024-25 campaign as they head south to Eagle Builders Centre to take on the Blackfalds Bulldogs (0-1-0-0) on Saturday night.
How To Follow:
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Breakdown:
Spruce Grove:
Overall Record: 0-1-0-0 (9th in Interior Conference – 18th in BCHL)
Home Record: 0-1-0-0
Road Record: 0-0-0-0
Power Play: 1-for-4 (25.0% – 8th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 4-for-4 (100% – T-1st in BCHL)
Blackfalds:
Overall Record: 0-1-0-0 (7th in Interior Conference – 13th in BCHL)
Home Record: 0-1-0-0
Road Record: 0-0-0-0
Power Play: 1-for-6 (16.7% – 12th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 6-for-10 (60.0% – 17th in BCHL)
Season Series:
Saturday, September 21st @ Eagle Builders Centre (6:00 PM)
Friday, October 25th @ Eagle Builders Centre (7:00 PM)
Wednesday, November 20th @ Grant Fuhr Arena (7:00 PM)
Saturday, December 7th @ Eagle Builders Centre (6:00 PM)
Saturday, March 8th @ Grant Fuhr Arena (7:00 PM)
Saturday, March 29th @ Grant Fuhr Arena (7:00 PM)
Looking Back:
The Saints enter play on Saturday after opening the season with a hard-fought 3-2 loss to the Penticton Vees on Friday night in their home opener at Grant Fuhr Arena. In front of a packed crowd of 1,221 fans, Josh Polak and Austin Peters provided the goal scoring but a late 3rd period goal from the Vees saw the game go to the visitors. Ryan De Kok was very solid in goal, turning aside 30 of the 33 shots he faced in the defeat.
The Bulldogs play their second consecutive home game to start the year after surrendering four power play goals in a 7-3 loss to the Sherwood Park Crusaders on Friday at Eagle Builders Centre. Aiden Castle, Shane Purves and Jayden Joly found the back of the net for Blackfalds while Waylon Esche made 25 saves on 32 shots in the losing cause.
Saints Leading Scorers:
Josh Polak (1-1-2)
Austin Peters (1-0-1)
Brody Juck (0-1-1)
Max Seguin (0-1-1)
Bulldogs Leading Scorers:
Shane Purves (1-1-2)
Aiden Castle (1-0-1)
Jayden Joly (1-0-1)
Tyler Chiovetti (0-1-1)
Jamie Darlison (0-1-1)
Who’s Hot:
Spruce Grove:
- Josh Polak – Forward – Strathcona County, Alberta
Scoring the first goal of the season for the Saints on opening night, while also adding an assist for a two-point night, Polak started his season off in a strong fashion. The Strathcona County native had three points in seven games during his BCHL action a season ago while posting 53 points in 30 games at Shawnigan Lake School before that.
- Max Seguin – Forward – Orelans, Ontario
Although in his first season with the Saints, Seguin brings a lot of junior hockey experience from his time with the Bonnyville Pontiacs and was named team captain for Spruce Grove during the home opener last night. Seguin collected an assist on the Saints opening goal to earn his first BCHL point.
Blackfalds:
- Shane Purves – Vancouver, BC
It was a terrific BCHL debut for Purves, who collected a goal and an assist in his team’s opening night loss but contributed highly to his group’s offensive attack. Scoring is something Purves has been used to, having earned 31 goals in 30 games a season ago with the North Shore Warriors U18 Prep team while also earning 64 points in that span.
- Jayden Joly – Forward – Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta – Western Michigan University
After raking up 17 points in 20 games with the Bulldogs during the BCHL portion of the team’s schedule last year, Joly began his season this year with a tally in Friday’s game. A commit of Western Michigan University, Joly has been apart of the Bulldogs for each of the past three seasons amassing 140 points in 188 games with Blackfalds.
The Saints and Bulldogs meet for the first of six times this season on Saturday night at Eagle Builders Centre. The game will be broadcasted live on sprucegrovesaints.mixlr.com as well as streamed on FloHockey. Puck drop is set for 6:00 PM with the pre-game show rolling at 5:45 PM.
