Brooks, Alberta – The Brooks Bandits will host the Sherwood Park Crusaders Saturday before welcoming the Blackfalds Bulldogs for a Sunday evening matchup. The Bandits just played host to the Trail Smoke Eaters on Wednesday in a convincing win that saw them score four unanswered goals in the first period en route to a 6-2 victory.
“It was a solid 60 minutes,” said Assistant Coach Keven Sajinovic postgame Wednesday. “We took care of the defensive game and were rewarded with the offensive output.”
The Bandits scored the first four goals of the game within the first 12 minutes of the opening period, avenging goaltender Joseph Quintilio’s first start as a Bandit, which saw him concede eight goals against.
“It is a confidence booster for [Quintilio] for sure,” added Sajinovic. “We deserved to play better in front of him, and the team also deserved a little bit better from our goaltending [in his last start against Sherwood Park]. It was good for the team and for [Quintilio] individually to step up and have the night he did.”
Quintilio was named the first star of the game after stopping 27 of 29 shots.
“It felt great. First game in this building with the Bandits… It’s unbelievable,” Quintilio said after posting his first win as a Bandit Wednesday. “My teammates are awesome and I am so excited to be a Bandit.”
After losing five out of seven in early October, the Bandits have turned things around, winning three straight by a combined score of 18-6.
“Our habits are unlike anyone else in the league. We have championship habits and a championship mindset,” said Sajinovic. “We have staff and players that know what it takes to win championships on this team; we hold our players and staff to a higher standard than anyone else in the BCHL.”
Sherwood Park will come into the Centennial Regional Arena having lost four of their last five, with their lone win coming against the Bandits last time out in an 8-6 high-scoring affair.
It will be former Bandits defenceman Lazarus Ebanoidze’s first visit back to Brooks since the trade that saw the Bandits acquire Joseph Sinclair. Ebanoidze has two assists through nine games this season and is still searching for his first goal in a Crusaders uniform.
Mavrick Brunet leads all Crusaders in points with 18, while 2009-born NHL draft prospect Dmitry Pavlov leads Sherwood Park in goals with nine. Brunet and Pavlov are the only Crusaders currently at a point-per-game pace or better.
Sherwood Park sits last in the Interior East Division with just four wins in 14 games this season.
Brooks’ Sunday opponent, the Blackfalds Bulldogs, sit third in the division with an 8-7-0 record and are just four points back of the Bandits for first place. The Bulldogs have scored 31 fewer goals than the Bandits this season, with both teams having appeared in 15 games so far this campaign.
Blackfalds comes into the weekend as winners of four straight after a disastrous start to the season. Over a three-game stretch at the beginning of October, they scored just one goal and conceded 13.
Matthew Croxall leads the way for the Bulldogs with 15 points in 15 games. Ryul Kwon, who played his first game on October 9, has 12 points in eight games. Kwon hails from Seoul, South Korea.
Forward Dmitrijs Dilevka’s 24 points lead all Bandits and are good for a tie for fourth place in the BCHL. Makaio Van Tassel is tied for sixth in the BCHL with 22 points and leads Brooks with 10 goals in 15 games.
Zachary Deleau has 21 points in 14 games and leads all BCHL defencemen. His 17 assists are also a league best among blue-liners.
The Bandits’ power play is humming at a 37% conversion rate, which is the second-highest mark in the BCHL, just behind the Prince George Spruce Kings. No other team in the league is above 30%. If you doubled the Bandits’ Sunday opponent’s power-play production (15%), it would still be seven points lower than Brooks’. With 27, no one else has more goals on the man advantage than the Bandits.
Goaltender Emile Beaunoyer ranks fourth in the BCHL in wins with seven, and his .901 SV% ranks tenth.
Puck drop for Saturday’s game will be at 7:00 MT, while Sunday’s Remembrance Day matchup will commence at 4:00 MT.
