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Dragons notch two solid wins

   The Dragons are hoping to build momentum for the postseason.
   This comes after two solid wins versus northern division teams over the weekend at home. The Dragons topped the Spruce Grove Saints on Friday night, February 23, 3-2, and then trampled the Drayton Valley Thunder 9-2 on Saturday.
   “That is what it is about, you want to be peaking at the right time to finish off the season and I think our guys have done that,” said coach Kevin Hasselberg.
   The Saints are in top spot in the Viterra AJHL North Division. It was the Dragons who had the jump Friday night as Brett Edwards opened the scoring 3:20 on the powerplay to take an early lead. With about two minutes left in the period Brady Risk scored and then Andrew Kartusch made it 3-0 about 40 seconds later.
   The Saints didn’t go away and after a scoreless second period, they opened the third period with a goal. With two and half minutes left on the powerplay, the Saints pulled their goalie and made the score 3-2. This was as close as they could get as they held on for the win.
   “We had a pretty good weekend, we knocked off the top team in the north in Spruce Grove,” said Hasselberg. They have a lot of talented players right from their goaltender out to the forwards. There is a big reason why they continue to be the class of the north when it comes to regular season standings.
   “The fact that we have been able to beat them three times this year is huge and should we have the opportunity to play them in the AJHL finals our guys should have some confidence, but that is a long ways away from now.”
   On Saturday the Dragons momentum continued and they came out flying with two goals from Alex Rotundo as well as one from Jordan Taupert and Slater Dykma put the Dragons up 4-0 in the first period. Tyson Scott scored early in the second followed by Edwards and Brady Nicholetts to end the second 7-0. Taupert scored his second before the Thunder made it onto the scoreboard. The Thunder added one more goal, but so did Derrick Budz as the Dragons went on to a 9-2 win.
   “The guys have been scoring a lot of goals in the last little bit and for us to put up nine against a team that has been playing very well, was gratifying,” said Hasselberg.
   The Dragons have just two more games before the end of the regular season and are sitting in third place in the Viterra AJHL South. the team is relatively healthy with a couple day-to-day injuries.
   “Coming out of the last two games of the regular season, you hope you get through them unscathed and be good for the playoffs,” said Hasselberg.

Dragons earn three points over weekend

   The Drumheller Dragons picked up three of a possible four points over the weekend with a win over Whitecourt and an overtime loss in Camrose.
   The Dragons hosted the Whitecourt Wolverines on Friday night, February 2, in front of 569 fans.
   They jumped out early and Brady Risk scored on the power play six minutes in, and then three and half minutes later, Alex Rotundo connected to put the Dragons up 2-0.
   In the second period, Jordan Taupert scored his first of the game at the 2:11 mark, and followed this up with his second, with three and a half minutes left in the period on the power play. The Wolverines scored late in the second to end the period 4-1.
   The Dragons outshot the Wolverines 14-7 in the third period. Taupert completed his hat-trick with a minute and a half left for a 5-1 final score. Rotundo had two assists along with his goal.
   The action continued on Saturday night, February 3, when the Dragons travelled to Camrose to take on the Kodiaks.
   This time Camrose jumped out into the lead in the first period, but Brett Edwards tied it at the 15:43 mark on the powerplay. In the second period, again the Kodiaks took the lead briefly before Jordan Taupert scored to end the period tied at two.
   After an even third period, the game went into overtime and Camrose scored the winner just 42 seconds in.
   The Dragons faced off in Calgary versus the Canucks on Tuesday, February 6, results not available at press time. This Saturday, February 10, they’re back on home ice to play the Fort McMurray Oil Barons.

Drumheller Dragons showing improvement

   The Drumheller Dragons are showing continuous improvement after a strong week where they earned three out of a possible six points.
    The Dragons were at home on Tuesday, January 16 to host the Camrose Kodiaks. After a scoreless first period, Nate Keeley put the Dragons on the board. Camrose answered back however with two quick goals to end the second period up 2-1. The Dragons’ Ryan McBeath scored his first as a Dragon just 2:47 into the third period to tie the game. Drumheller kept the pressure up, outshooting Camrose 10-7, but the game went to overtime and then a shootout. It took nine shooters before Camrose took the win.
   “We liked the effort and probably deserved a better result,” said Coach Kevin Hasselberg.
   On Friday, January 19, the Dragons travelled to Olds to take on the Grizzlys, and it didn’t take them long to flex their muscles. The Dragons jumped out to 3-0 with two goals from Alex Rotundo and one from Tyson Scott. The Grizzlys made it onto the scoreboard seven minutes into the second, but the Dragons’ barrage continued with Brett Edwards, McBeath, and Derrick Budz all scoring in the second.
    Rotundo finished his hat trick at the 11:19 mark of the third period to go up 7-1. Olds added two more goals but it was too little too late.
   “I really liked our game against Olds, they are struggling and I think our guys played with confidence and just had fun,” said Hasselberg.        “They were moving the puck and were ahead of their game and pucks were going in the net for us. The players had a whole new sense of enthusiasm which was really good to see.”
   The Dragons finished off the weekend on Saturday night with a trip to Okotoks to take on the league-leading Oilers. This time Oilers didn’t waste any time and went up 4-0 in the first period. Andrew Kartusch scored the lone goal in the second period unassisted. In the third, the Oilers scored two to the single powerplay goal from Jordan Taupert as the Oilers went onto a 6-2 win.
   “Our guys came out really good and had that same sense of urgency and enthusiasm (as in Olds),” said Hasselberg.
   “Playing against the Oilers, they can score quickly on you and they got a couple goals on us, and at that point, we were chasing the game, things tightened up again. Obviously, it is a little harder on the guys’ mentality to pull through in situations like that, but there was still a lot go good things in that game.
   This Saturday the Dragons host the Calgary Mustangs, and they return the favour on Sunday.