Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Not fooled by the fact they're 17 points ahead of this weekend's opponent in the standings, the MacEwan Griffins men's hockey team isn't taking anything for granted as they make their annual two-game road trip to Caronport, Sask. to take on the Briercrest College Clippers.
Do that at your own peril.
The Clippers (5-12-2-1) may have allowed 64 more goals than they've scored through 20 games so far this Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference season – even with a perennial ACAC all-star goaltender (Dan Dekoning) who used to play in the Ontario Hockey League.
You still never take them lightly.
The Griffins (15-5-0-0) may have outscored them 26-6 in a pair of games in Edmonton back in November.
Clean slate, nonetheless.
The Griffins will bus to Caronport, Sask. for matches on Friday (6 p.m. MT, ACAC TV) and Saturday (1 p.m. MT, ACAC TV) looking to continue their strong recent play that's led to a six-game winning streak.
"I think the biggest thing is continuing to play the right way and not focusing on the past outcomes and where teams sit in the standings – more worrying about how we're playing as a team and improve and get better," said Griffins interim head coach Sean Ringrose. "I think the importance that we stress is we have to continually improve each and every day to reach our ultimate goal of winning a championship at the end of the season.
"It doesn't matter who your opponent is on any given night. We need to be of a mindset that you're improving every day and you're putting your best effort forward every night."
They're certainly coming in off one of their best efforts of the year – a 6-0 win over the UAlberta-Augustana Vikings last Saturday that was marked by dogged determination and intensity.
"We're a young group of guys – a lot of first-years – but everyone's really bought in and understood the process of what it takes – coming to the rink each and every game, regardless of who you're playing, put forth that effort every single night.
"That's what championship teams do. They don't allow outside factors to affect their ability to play any given game."
The other recent trend that's encouraging for a Griffins team now even with Red Deer College for second place in the ACAC standings is how they're getting contributions from everywhere.
During their six-game winning streak, which includes sweeps of RDC, Concordia and UAlberta-Augustana, the Griffins have had 19 different players hit the scoresheet. Five of them – Cameron Reagan, Jordan Taupert, Colin Schmidt, Cam Gotaas, and Zach Webb – have produced more than a point a game so far in January.
"It shows that we have a ton of depth on our team," said Ringrose. "We're a deep team that will run four lines and six defencemen, right through all of our goalies. We have confidence in everybody's ability to play on our team.
"They've showed that they can step up and contribute each and every game. Some nights, some guys aren't going to have their best. Other nights, guys seem to have nights where everything they touch ends up in the net or they're making all the right plays. When you have that luxury, it's a good recipe for success."