Regals’ hopes of first still alive

High Prairie’s Nathan Gladue, left, and Falher’s Jean-Marc Meunier collide during their game Feb. 2 in High Prairie. The Regals won easily 12-5.

Chris Clegg
South Peace News

The Falher Pirates just don’t have the arsenal the High Prairie Regals enjoy for a competitive game. The Regals proved it Feb. 2 with a decisive 12-5 home ice win to keep faint hopes of first place alive in the NPHL’s East Division. Coupled with the Lakeland Eagles’ 3-1 loss at Grande Prairie the same night, the Regals still have hope, albeit slight. Regals’ coach Brian Martinson concedes first place is nearly out of reach, mostly because of two shootout losses and an overtime loss to Lakeland earlier this season. “There are a few points we lost,” says Martinson, adding they also enjoyed leads in several games. A 6-4 loss just before Christmas at Fairview with a short bench has also factored heavily into the standings. The Regals trail the Eagles by one point with three games left while the Eagles have four. The Eagles play at Falher, Grimshaw and Valleyview and at home against Falher. The Regals play at Valleyview and home to Grimshaw but have to make a tough trip to Fort St. John. The Regals need a small miracle to place first and will likely play Grande Prairie or Spirit River in the NPHL quarter-finals. For now, the Regals continue to play their best hockey of the season. They led 5-1 after one period against the Pirates and never looked back. “The only thing I was disappointed in was we only had one shot (Tyler Shantz’s goal) until about eight minutes into the second period,” says Martinson. However, the game was over by then. Brad Macnab had three goals and three assists to lead the offence while Rollie Gladue added a pair. Lance Gauchier, Charles Laboucan, Ryan Trimble, Justin Paul, Rocky Sawchyn and Lee Lamouche all added singles. Shantz added four assists, Gauchier three. Denis Rochon scored three goals for Falher including two on the power play. Jason Bouchard and Michel Maisonneuve added the others. Hopes of first place took a serious hit Jan. 31 as the Regals lost at Lakeland 7-6 in a shootout - the second such result in less than a week. The Regals led 4-1 just over six minutes into the game but slowly watched the lead disappear. “I don’t know why that happens,” says Martinson. “It’s kind of hard to explain. It’s tough to keep the intensity up. We just don’t have that killer instinct.” Shantz’s power play goal with 22 seconds left sent the game into a scoreless overtime before the shootout. Seven shooters were needed to decide the issue. Travis Cunningham scored four goals and added an assist to lead the Eagles while Al Anderson added a pair. It was Mark Lindsay’s shootout winner that proved to be the winner. Shantz scored three goals and added two assists for the Regals while T.J. Cunningham, Macnab and Paul added the others. The Regals host the Grimshaw Huskies in their final regular season home game Feb. 7 before traveling to Fort St. John to play the Lawrence Cup winners Feb. 9. The Huskies bring the NPHL’s worst offence to town Feb. 7 but the game will be much tougher in Fort St. John. “I hope we can get all the guys to go,” says Martinson. “I need all the defenceman to go.” Martin likes the team he has now, especially with the recent additions of Vern Cunningham Jr. and Rocky Sawchyn to the defence corps. “With Ryan (Trimble) and the other Rocky (Collins) we have as good a defence as any in the league,” says Martinson. The recent addition of former MVP Brad Macnab and his brother, Tyrell, also brings more offence to the team as they head into the playoffs.

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