Minto Cup Opening Luncheon - Posted July 27, 2005

Please accept this as an invitation to attend the
" Minto Cup Opening Luncheon"
August 25, 2005 @ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Crowne Plaza
10111 Bellamy Hill NW
Edmonton, Ab.

This is your opportunity to meet the best Junior A players in Canada as they prepare for competition against each other with the winner emerging as the recipient of the prestigious Minto Cup recognizing the "best Junior A" team in Canada.

$25 per person includes the luncheon and a chance to meet players and coaches from our province and across Canada, as well it gives you the opportunity to meet representatives from the new Edmonton Rush. We will reserve a table of ten for your Club for $250. We require payment no later than Saturday, August 20th to confirm your reservation. Please do not delay as seating is limited. Check our Minto website @ mintocup.edmontonminers.com for more information regarding contacts, reserving individual or club seating, game schedules etc.

Round robin begins August 25 at the Bill Hunter Arena, 9200-163 Street, Edmonton, and
end September 3,2005 with the Minto Cup championship. Look to the Minto Cup website @ mintocup.edmontonminers.com

Please contact: Elly Jagusch   @ (780)458-5234 email: jagusch@telusplanet.net

THE CALGARY RAIDERS AND EDMONTON MINERS FACE OFF FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE DAYS. - Posted July 11, 2005

The Edmonton Miners returned to Max Bell Arena for their third game in three days to take on the Jr. Raiders. The Raiders had beaten the Miners two days before and waited while the Miners played on Saturday against the Knights.

The game started off the way the last one ended with the Raiders in control and fast breaking the Miners who were slow to get back on defense. That cost them as the Raiders took a 2-0 lead. 7 minutes in the Miners finally put together a nice power play goal and two minutes later tied it up with a break away goal by Greg Whitenect on the man short. The Raiders immediately responded with a power play goal by Josh Russell. The Raiders once again went up by two before the Miners came back late in the period with two of their own to tie the game 4-4 after one. The Raiders had many good opportunities off the fast break but Jon Marrese made some nice saves.

In the second period the Miners fall apart as their lack of discipline cost them. The Raiders were able to finally capitalize on the power play when the Miners took some bad penalties but it was when the Miners had the power play that they really looked bad as the Raiders had better scoring opportunities then the Miners did and scored a number of short handed goals. The Raiders got two goals before the Miners responded with one of their own to make it 6-5. Then the Miner’s wheels fall off and the Raiders took it to them. A number of fast break opportunities resulted in goals and after the Raiders had built up a 9-5 lead Marrese was replaced by brother, Dave. That did not help as the Raiders blew 3 past him before Jon returned to the net. Again the Raiders found their way to the net to make the score 13-5. The Miners managed to find the net twice before the end of the period to make it 13-7 after two.

The third period started out with an exchange of goals and then the Raiders got one more before the Miners made a mini rally and fired three goals to make the score 15-11 and there was a sense for the first time since the first period that they could make a game of it. Those hopes were dashed when the Raiders Justin Der won the foot race down the floor on a man short and beat Marrese to give them a five goal lead. The Miners tried to get that back but were frustrated and then watched as the Raiders broke down the floor for two more goals to end the game 18-11.

This weekend belonged to the Calgary Raiders, as they clearly wanted these games much more then the Miners. In both games they out hustled and out worked the Miners and if the Miners want to compete with them in the play offs then they are going to have to change their strategy for game preparation and look for some answers to the Raiders speed.

The Raiders had 10 different scorers. Leading the way was Der with 4 points (3,1) and Russell with 3 (3,0). The Miners two goal performances from Neil Tichkowsky (2,0) and Cole Howell (2,1). Shaun Wilhelm contributed with 4 points (1,3)

Next game for the Miners is next Saturday night at Sherwood Park against the Outlaws at 6 pm.

THE EDMONTON MINERS THRASH THE AIRDRIE KNIGHTS - Posted July 11, 2005

After losing to the Calgary Jr. Raiders the night before the Edmonton Miners put their equipment back on less then 15 hours later to take on the Airdrie Knights. A decent nights sleep and a good warm up made a big difference in the Miner performance and this time it looked as if it was the Knights that were not ready to play.

The game started quickly for the Miners as Neil Tichkowsky took a fast break pass and fired from the outside to beat Knights starting goalie Christian Roth. The Knights tied it up 5 seconds later with a goal right of the face off from Dave Wandler. That however would be the last time the Knights would feel that they were in the game. The Miners took control and fired 4 more goals before the period had ended to make the score 5-1 at the end of one.

The second was more of the same. The Miners Mark Malayko scored a beautiful quick stick before the Knights responded on a strange goal. The referee in the corner blew the whistle to give the ball to the Knights and allegedly the other ref blew the game in. None of the Miners knew and before any one could react Greg Brady passed the ball to Brian Redmen who was all by himself. The Miners responded with three of their own and then the Knights got their last one of the day to make the score 9-3.

In the third it all began to disintegrate as the Knights were frustrated and perhaps embarrassed by their performance. There were a number of cheap shots taken by the Knights with much retaliation by the Miners. The referees had a tough time keeping control and at times lost it. Not only did the discipline fall apart but so did the play as both teams lost interest in the score. The result was a very chippy affair with the Miners adding to their score. Four more goals to be exact including Tichkowsky’s fourth of the night. The game really falls apart in the last couple of minutes when Chris Wiggle two handed the Miners Greg Whitenect in the face to take a five minute penalty. That was followed by an unexplainable attack by Ryan Snell on 16 year old Matt Weibe. Final score 16-3.

Leading the scoring for the Mners was Tichkowsky with 4 points (4,1), Cole Howell with 3 (3,0) and Dalen Crouse with 3 (2,1). The Miners had 9 different scorers.

Next game is a rematch tomorrow with the Raiders at Max Bell.

MINERS TRAVEL TO CALGARY TO CONTINUE THE BATTLE FOR JR. A SURPEMECY - Posted July 11, 2005

The Miners started off a tough three game weekend at Max Bell Arena against a charged up Raiders team on Friday night having won the two previous games against them. Bus trouble caused them to arrive late delaying the game by 20 minutes and when it did start it was clear who was more ready to play.

The first period started out with Calgary taking it to the Miners who looked completely out of tune for the game. They challenged the Miners when the Miners had possession causing numerous turnovers and then carried the ball to the offensive end with speed and confidence. As a result they took a 1-0 lead with J Ruvel firing the ball past Jon Marrese. The Miners showed a sign of a spark when Kyle Weiher tied the game up at one and then looked to take the lead when Dan Hartzell blasted one for the top of the power play but it was called back because of a crease call. The Raiders then took over and in the space of three minutes scored three goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead into the first intermission.

In the second period the Raiders continued to take it to the Miners but with not the same success mostly because of the play of Marrese. At one point he lost his stick and made a number of great saves before the Miners were able to take control of the ball. 6 minutes in the Miners took one of their rare opportunities and Neil Tichkowsky fired the ball over Angus Dineley’s shoulder to get the Miners back into the game. The Raiders fought back with one of their own to regain control. But then the Miners seemed to find their legs and caught the Raiders flat footed. The Miners scored 3 fast break goals to tie the game and for a time it looked as if they were finally going to take it to the hosts. Score after two 5-5.

The Miners came out flying in the third and took their first lead of the game with Tichkowsky’s second goal and looked to seal the fate of the game 5 minutes later with Weiher’s second of the night when he took a breakaway pass from Dan Claffey. However just when it looked like it was over the Raiders struck back with an outside shot from A. Kirkaldy. For the next 6 minutes neither team could get a break because of the great goaltending of both goalies. At the 8:29 minute mark is when it all changed and the Raiders took over for good. Ruvel got his second followed by goals by Scoop Der and A LuBarbara to give them a 9-7 lead with 7 minutes left. The Miners tried to get back into it but the Raiders tightened up their defense and it was not until the last minute in the game that the Miners were able to find the net. Final 9-8 Raiders.

This game was back and forth and although the score was close the Raiders were clearly the better team this night. They hustled for loose balls and played tough defense. The Miners did not seem to have the energy needed to play with the Raiders and it would have been much more obvious on the score board had it not been the play of Marrese. The Raiders were lead by Drew Comeau who had 3 goals and 2 assists and was by far the best player on the floor for either team.

These two teams meet again on Sunday but not before the Miners play on Saturday the Airdrie Knights.