by Stephen Dafoe
The St. Albert Merchants will advance to the Capital Junior Hockey League Championship against the Beaumont Chiefs after defeating the Morinville Jets 2-1 in regulation play in the fifth and final CJHL West Division Semi-Finals game on Thursday, Mar. 14.
The Jets won the first game of the best-of-five series 4-2 on Mar. 3 but lost the second and third games 5-2 and 4-0, respectively.
With the Merchants leading the best-of-five series 2-1, the Jets’ fate was doubtful on Sunday, Mar. 10, as the Jets were down 2-0 after one.
Another 20 minutes passed without a single extra digit on either side’s score, leaving the Jets with the final 20 minutes to keep their playoff chances alive.
The Jets narrowed St. Albert’s lead to 2-1 early in the frame, capitalized on a powerplay opportunity seven minutes later and pulled ahead to 3-2 with an unassisted shorthanded goal. An empty netter in the final minute of play won the day, pushing the series to its limit.
In Thursday’s series finale, the Merchants outshot the Jets 14-6 in the opening frame. Still, neither St. Albert nor Morinville could capitalize on their chances, resulting in a scoreless first period.
St. Albert opened scoring midway through the second period to lead 1-0, but the Jets responded with three minutes left in the period to tie it 1-1, the Merchants slightly out-chancing the Jets 27-23.
Deadlocked through the first two periods, the final 20 minutes would decide which team’s season would end and which would advance to the CJHL Championships.
Once again, the Merchants pocketed one to pull ahead 2-1, but this time, the Jets could not get one past St. Albert’s backstop, giving the Merchants the fifth and final game and the semi-final series 2-1.
Though not the playoff outcome the Jets had hoped for, the 2023-2024 regular season captured many team and league records, including four shooters in the league’s top ten, including the top three spots, and coach of the year.
With the series in hand, the Merchants will play in the CJHL Championship against the Beaumont Chiefs, who won their series 3-0. The Merchants played the Chiefs twice in the regular season, winning one game 8-5 and losing the second 5-2.
Game times and locations for the 2024 Championship series were unavailable by our deadline.
