The Spruce Grove Saints (3-7-1-0) will open their weekend with a trip to Central Alberta to take on the Blackfalds Bulldogs (1-9-0-0) for the second time this season at Eagle Builders Centre on Friday night.
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Breakdown:
Spruce Grove:
Overall Record: 3-7-1-0 (9th in Interior Conference – 18th in BCHL)
Home Record: 1-5-0-0
Road Record: 2-2-1-0
Power Play: 7-for-35 (20.0% – 11th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 26-for-32 (81.3% – 8th in BCHL)
Blackfalds:
Overall Record: 1-9-0-0 (11th in Interior Conference – 21st in BCHL)
Home Record: 0-1-0-0
Road Record: 0-0-0-0
Power Play: 5-for-41 (12.2% – 20th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 30-for-42 (71.4% – 18th in BCHL)
Season Series:
Saturday, September 21st @ Eagle Builders Centre (7-2 Saints) (BOXSCORE)
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 come into action after a busy stretch of five games in seven and a half days, capped off by a 3-1 loss to the Penticton Vees on Sunday afternoon at Grant Fuhr Arena. Matheson Mason scored the lone goal in the game for Spruce Grove while Ryan De Kok earned his second consecutive start, making 32 saves on 34 shots in his 5th loss of the season.
The start to the 2024-25 season has not gone the way in which the Bulldogs would have hoped for so far and found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-3 score to the Sherwood Park Crusaders on Saturday night at the Eagle Builders Centre. Luke Dahlen, Tyler Chiovetti and Aiden Castle each found the back of the net in the game while Waylon Esche turned aside 34 of the 38 shots thrown his way in his 7th loss of the season.
Saints Leading Scorers:
Josh Polak (5-4-9)
Austin Peters (3-4-7)
Matheson Mason (5-1-6)
Keifer Miller (2-4-6)
Max Seguin (2-4-6)
Bulldogs Leading Scorers:
Joey Melo (4-3-7)
Alexander Dimitriadis (2-4-6)
Jack McAra (2-4-6)
Tyler Chiovetti (3-2-5)
Jayden Joly (1-4-5)
Who’s Hot:
Spruce Grove:
- Xander Miceli – Goaltender – Brentwood, Tennessee
The Saints netminder returns to the spot where he earned his first career BCHL victory just over a month ago in Blackfalds and has been one of the most consistent performers of the season. From the hockey hotbed of Brentwood, Tennessee, Miceli has not surrendered more than three goals against in four consecutive starts and will look to keep his strong play rolling into a big weekend for Spruce Grove.
- Austin Peters – Forward – Winnipeg, Manitoba – University of Maine
Another player making his way back to a memorable spot, Peters returns to Blackfalds after tallying a pair of goals in the Saints 7-2 win back on September 21st at Eagle Builders Centre. Those two markers were the last that Peters has scored, currently on a nine-game scoring drought but the Maine commit comes in with points in three of his last four contests, earning three assists in that span and will look to kick the scoring drought in a place where he has had success this season.
Blackfalds:
- Joey Melo – Forward – Georgetown, Ontario – University of Alaska-Anchorage
Points in three of his last four games and four of his last six contests has given Melo a stretch of solid play offensively as his team continues to be competitive and finding ways to try and earn wins. An Alaska-Anchorage commit, Melo has earned two goals and two assists for four points over three of his last four games, including goals in two of those four contests and currently leads the Bulldogs with four markers and seven points on the campaign.
- Tyler Chiovetti – Forward – Redondo Beach, California
Chiovetti, similar to Melo, sports a stretch of points in three of his last four games while also collecting goals in two of his last three contests as he tries to find his way in his first BCHL season. Hailing from Redondo Beach in California, Chiovetti is no stranger to playing hockey north of the border, having played alongside of Saints blue liner Oscar Wu at St. Andrew’s College in Ontario each of the past three seasons and collected 71 points in 53 games played a season ago.
The Saints and Bulldogs meet for the second 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 7:00 PM with the pre-game show rolling at 6:45 PM.
Spruce Grove returns to home ice on Saturday, October 26th as the West Kelowna Warriors make their first ever trip to Grant Fuhr Arena. It’s a Spooky Saturday as children are encouraged to dress up to win some great prizes while candy will be handed out during the intermissions. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase online at tickets.sprucegrovesaints.ca.