High Prairie Red Wings forward Dayton Shantz carries the puck into the Edson Eagles end, followed by Eagles forward Rhodes Buffalo, during their matchup in the Crowsnest Pass on November 2. Nicholas L. M. Allen photo.
Nicholas L. M. Allen
Nov 8, 2023
National Junior Hockey League teams faced off in the Pass with the unveiling of Crowsnest's new team for the 2024 season.
The top two teams in the National Junior Hockey League (NJHL) faced off at the Crowsnest Pass Sports Complex on November 4.
The Edson Eagles and High Prairie Red Wings faced off as the top two teams in the league heading into the game. The Eagles emerged vicotrilus after a high intensity game with plenty of goals.
Edson started the scoring with the help of two even strength goals early in the first period. The first goal was scored by Nathaniel Heese and assisted by Tyson Ward and Mason Buzzell. The second was a goal from Carson Baptiste assisted by Austin Berezowski.
Baptiste added to the lead with a shorthanded goal with 12:49 remaining in the first. The Red Wings didn’t roll over yet, putting in a powerplay and even strength goal to cut the lead to one. This would be the closest they came to tieing the score all game.
Baptiste would score the next two goals unassisted. One at even strength to end the first period and one shorthanded to start the second.
Berezowski scored two more for the Eagles, with Ethan Ermineskin and Alysik Buffalo adding a goal each to bring the Eagles up to nine goals.
Kc Papastesis, Dayton Shantz, Kaden Desjarlais and Ty Cunningham scored goals for High Prarie, but they ended up on the losing side of a 9-4 score.
The shots for each team were 40 for the Eagles and 35 for the Red Wings.
Before puck drop, owner of the Pass NJHL team, Colin Grindle, revealed the name for the new team with Mayor Blair Painter and CAO Patrick Thomas, with the name Crush being revealed.
Beginning in the 2024-25 hockey season, the Crowsnest Pass Crush will join the NJHL.