From Jason Blanke (www.drumhelleronline.com) The AJHL and Drumheller Dragons kicked off their exhibition series this weekend with the “Highway 56 Series” with the Camrose Kodiaks.
The Dragons, who will face the Kodiaks for six games this month, started off the series by hosting Camrose on Friday night. It was great to see meaningful hockey being played at the Memorial Arena, albeit in front of only 100 fans due to the restrictions in place by the Province of Alberta.
The Dragons would open the scoring in the first period, when newcomer Hayden Prosofsky would score on a deflected puck, on the powerplay, with assists from Tyson Gross and Luke Fennig. Former Dragon, Brett Wieschorster would tie the game early in the second at 4:10 of the period. Camrose would take the lead seven minutes later when Ryan Sullivan would get one by Dragons goaltender Ryley Osland. The third, both teams would have chances with the Dragons getting a late powerplay but Drumheller couldn’t tie the game.
On Saturday, ti was another close game. The Kodiaks would hold a 2-0 lead after the first. Drumheller would storm back in the second with one goal from Myles Hilman and two goals from rookie Sam Simard, to take the lead 3-2 into the third period. Early in the period, Camrose would tie the game on a goal from Ryan Sullivan. The Kodiaks would take the lead for good on a penalty shot by Lynden Grandberg, to make the final 4-3 Camrose.
The young Dragons looked like they were pretty comfortable on the ice in the Dragons orange, which bodes well for this season as the Dragons only have nine returning veterans from last year. The series continues this upcoming weekend with two games. Friday, the Dragons and Kodiaks meet in Camrose and Saturday the two meet in Drumheller at 7:00 pm at the Memorial Arena. The game on Saturday will be on Real Country 910 starting at 6:45 pm with the ProPlan Financial Pregame Show.