The NCHL saw somewhat of a rarity Saturday night, as both scheduled games were decided by a shootout, Having 2 shootouts on the same night after only having 3 in the past 4 seasons is indeed a rarity. That both of the shootouts featured the 2 top teams in the league was also very interesting. Previously unbeaten Lacombe Generals fell to the Morinville Kings 7-6 in one shootout, while still unbeaten Camrose Crush narrowly escaped with their SO win over the Westlock Warriors by an 8-7 score. So far this season, we've had 1 overtime game to go with the 2 shootout games. Last season we had 4 OT's and 2 SO's. In the 2019-2020 season we had 3 OT games and 1 SO. There were no shootouts in either 2017-2018 or 2018-2019.
My picks for this week's Players of the Week are:
Matt Benko (MK) - paced the Kings to their win over Lacombe with 2-2-4.
Ryley Bennefield (CC) - lead the Crush to their win over Westlock with 2-2-4.
Bryce Wilson (LG) - lead the Generals in a losing cause with 3-0-3.
Honourable mentions go out to:
Zach Carr - (MK) - 2-1-3
Cam Maclise - (LG) - 1-2-3
Mathew Peddie - (WW) - 1-2-3
Taylor Heck (WW) - 1-2-3
Only 2 games are scheduled for the upcoming weekend. Bonnyville travels to Westlock on Friday and then the Pontiacs host Morinville on Sunday afternoon.