The St. Paul Canadiens were dealt the team’s thirteenth consecutive loss of the season by the second place Vermilion Tigers in an away game at Vermilion Arena last Saturday.
It was the team’s only game of the week, in which the Canadiens scored only one goal, courtesy of Canadiens’ defenceman, Tyler Gamble by way of a penalty shot at 12:15 in the first period.
Unfortunately, after the lone goal by the Canadiens, the game belonged to the Tigers as they scored four unanswered goals in the second period.
There was no scoring in the third period from both teams to leave the final score at 4 - 1.
The last time the Canadiens won this season was back in early October against the Thorhild Titans in a home game when the team scored five goals against the Titan’s two.
One of the reasons for the Canadiens’ poor performance is that the team has been plagued by player injuries since the beginning of the season, and are currently only fielding a two line team, according to James Couch, the team’s assistant head coach. Couch noted most teams have three or four lines every game.
Couch has also said the team is struggling since it is in rebuilding mode, and there are multiple spots to be filled in the roster before the end of the year.
The Canadiens are currently holding steady at eighth place, just ahead of the bottom ranked Thorhild Titans, in the North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League, with four points and a record of two wins and 14 losses heading into December, a critical month in terms of games to make the 2010/2011 playoffs.
The Canadiens will face off against the Killam Wheat Kings this Saturday in Killam, and will then face off against the Vegreville Rangers on Sunday in a home game at 3 p.m.
