The Spruce Grove Slash came out swinging this weekend with a chance to move into first place overall in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.  Unfortunately an incredibly undisciplined and selfish squad managed to give up a total of 61 penalty minutes to the oppostion Knights and Raiders.  The Slash spent one entire game and an extra minute in the penalty box.  In the sport of lacrosse it is incredibly difficult to win playing 5 on 5 let alone short handed.

On Saturday night the Slash totally dominated the Knights in the first period outscoring them 3-1. Shortly  into the second period with a 4-1 lead against the Knights the Slash discipline completely unravelled and they took 16 penalty minutes and gave up 4 power play goals.  Even after the catastrophic second period ended the score was tied 5-5.  To start the third period,  the Knights capitalized on a carry over penalty and scored their 6th straight powerplay goal of the game to take the lead.  Calgary's only even strength goal came a minute and a half later and they mainted pressure on the Slash for the rest of the game.  The Slash were able to score one more with 3 1/2 minutes left but could not manage to get the equalizer.  The final shots on goal were Knights 58 to Slash 25.

Sunday's game featured the largest crowd to date in Grant Fuhr to cheer on the Slash as they hosted the first place Okotoks Raiders.  Once again the unwanted teammate called penalty minutes joined the Slash line-up for this game.  The Slash looked very tired and listless in the first period and the 7-2 score reinforced that fact.  A series of bizarre penailties hurt any momentum the Slash may have generated which included Trevor Gordon being tossed from the game becase he was missing an ear flap. A few minutes later with Jordan Finkbeiner already serving a high-sticking penaly, the Slash gambled and lost on a stick measurement and ended up down 2 men.

To start the second period the Slash actually held their own for the first few minutes and showed some signs of life, but 2 goals by the Raiders a minute apart and another six minutes later saw the Raiders ring up an embarrassing 10-2 lead. The Slash regained a little composure, put a couple of balls in the net, then with yet another penalty and ensuing powerplay goal, the Slash literally fell apart and the minutes started adding up.  Goalie Ryan Dryburgh's frustration with the score fuelled his emotions and he took two minors in the last 5 minutes of the 2nd keeping the Slash shorthanded by 2 men to finish off the period.

The Slash competed a little better in the third with the score of the final frame ending in a 2-2 draw, but it was the overall score of 14-6 that counted in the end.

The Slash were very dissappointed with their performances in which they gave up a total of 11 power play goals on the weekend, and extended a losing streak that began with the Eclipse to 3 games.  This is the longest losing streak in the 4 year Slash franchise history.

The Slash host the Calgary Knights on Saturday night at Grant Fuhr.  Game time is 7:30 pm. Both teams currently have identical 8-5 records with the Slash leading the season series 1-0.

Saturday night is Edmonton Rush night at the Slash game.  The Edmonton Rush will have representatives present to offer insight into the upcoming season.  Ticket packages and fan information will be available   at the Rush booth in the lobby next to the Boston Pizza Pizzaz concession.  There will be door prizes supplied by the Edmonton Rush.

Sunday afternoon features the Slash against first place overall Okotoks Raiders.  The last time the Slash faced the Raiders they had less than 2 lines and managed a "respectable" 11-6 loss on the backside of the southern road trip. Sunday's game time is 2:30 pm.

Sunday will see the Slash hosting the West Edmonton Blues Novice, PeeWee and PeeWee Girls teams with a pre-game tailgate party and  then a meet and greet with the players post game.

Wednesday night saw the Spruce Grove Slash field nearly a full team against Sherwood Park and use it to their advantage.  The Slash dominated offensively, defensively and ultimately won the game 11-7.

Having a full roster made the game so much easier for the core group of players who have been pulling off some gutsy performances over the last month while injured players heal up. Once again goalie Ryan Dryburgh played a great game making save after save, the defence core is now all back together and the offence benefitted from the return of Mike Koch, Turtle(Shaun Wilhelm) and Fink (Jordan Finkbeiner).  Once again the Slash used Nick Melnyk and Phaelen Sarchuk and the two affiliates are looking like seasoned Slash players in the line-up. 

Leading the scoring Wednesday night was Trevor Gordon (2 goals, 2 assists) Shaun Wilhelm (4 assists) Richard Barnes (3 goals)  Cam Ritchie (2 goals, 1 assist).

The Slash return to action Friday June 19 against the Edmonton Eclipse, 7:30 at Grant Fuhr Arena.

The Spruce Grove Slash returned home pleased with their results this past weekend in Southern Alberta.  In what has become the norm for their line-up, they travelled with 9 regular players, 2 affiliates and back-up goalie Norm Shaw.  Saturday saw coach Trevor Gordon suit up and then light up (3 goals, 1 assist) for the game against the Mounties.  He also brought along 2 players from his JR B team (Fort Sask) who also contributed to the efforts.  The bonus for Spruce Grove is the JR Bs have the same systems in place and these players fit right into the line-up for the Slash. Affiliate player Shawn Gallant had 1 goal, 2 assists. The Slash battled from behind after the first period, gaining a one goal lead after 2 and then winning the game 14-9.  Not only was the short bench a factor, but the heat was also a major challenge in the game. Other noteable performances were Ryan Polny (3 goals, 1 assist) Ryan McNish(1 goal, 4 assists) and Rookie Cam Ritchie (4 goals, 1 assist) 

Sunday saw the Slash play with only 9 players but were able to add a fresh goalie in Ryan Dryburgh, who was unable to play Saturday, against first place Okotoks Raiders.  After a gruelling battle on Saturday, the Slash had very little gas left for the matinee and the result was to be expected playing against a full roster. The Slash were able to keep the game close until a 4 minute checking from behind penalty to Jeremy Boyd allowed the Raiders to open up a lead and burn out the penalty killers.  Once that happened the tide shifted and the Slash just did not have any legs left to battle.  The game was kept very respectable by a gutsy performance by the league's best defence and outstanding goaltending by Dryburgh. In fact to put it in better perspective, if the Slash did not give up 4 powerplay goals, the result would have been a 1 goal game.  In the end, the Slash walk away knowing that with a full roster they could have had a much different outcome to this game and will be prepared for the rematch later in June in their own building.  The final score was 11-6.

The Slash reutrn to action this week against the Sherwood Park Outlaws on Wednesday and the Eclipse on Friday.

The Spruce Grove Slash lost to the JR Miners tonight, not because they were beat by a better team rather they ran out of gas. Period!  The Slash playing their 5th game in 8 days, were short 12 regulars and had to affiliate 2 junior players just to have a couple of spare runners for the game.  Ryan Dryburgh came up big early in the game to allow the Slash to lead 5-3 after the first period, and 7-5 after 2 periods.  Unfortunately with only 12 runners the Slash could not hang on and dropped the game 11-9.  A number of suspect penalties (12 mins total) left the Slash seriously short handed in the third. 

Officiating was definitely not the main cause of the loss, the lack of fresh legs took its toll and the Slash are going to have to find more healthy bodies quickly as they enter another big week with a southern road trip looming.  The Slash take on the Mounties next Saturday and then face the South Division leading Raiders in a Sunday matinee in Okotoks.  This will be a true test for the play-off picture as the Riaders have yet to lose a game.

Overall this has been a very positive run for the Slash with a 4-1 record to show for the last 8 days considering the injury troubles that have plagued the Slash during this period.  With a full 5 days rest the Slash will be looking forward the start of the second half of the schedule.

 Highlights of the night were:  Affiliate Player Nick Melnyk getting a goal and assist, Craig Vermette with 3 goals, 1 assist, player-coach Trevor ( Reg Dunlop) Gordon 2 goals, 2 assists

The Spruce Grove Slash dominated from start to finish once again on Saturday night against the Calgary Mountaineers.  Scoring 7 goals in each of the first and second periods and 3 in the third period, the Slash defeated the Mounties 17-4. The offensive systems put into place with new head coach Trevor Gordon have finally clicked in and are providing huge results.  The systems have allowed the Slash to use a revolving door of players and still end up with positive results.  Saturday night saw Craig Vermette in action for the first time this year scoring 3 goals and an assist.  Shaun Wilhem led all scoring with 5 goals and 3 assists.

Defensively the Slash settled down after allowing 4 breakaways in the first period, they tightened up and allowed only one the rest of the game.  Goalie Norm Shaw made his first start of the season allowing 3 goals in the first period on breakaways, then settling down and allowed only one more goal the rest of the game.  He also faced a penalty shot in the second period and shut it down.

General Manager Paul Koch feels that he has a large box of lego and it does not matter which piece he uses, the results are always positive and the team is riding a 4 game win streak to prove his point.  The Slash return to action tonight against the Edmonton JR Miners, 7:30 at Servus Performance Arena.

The Spruce Grove Slash continued their dominance over the expansion SR. Miners Wednesday night at the Grant Fuhr Arena with a 12-7 win.  The game featured the debut of 2nd round draft pick Cam Ritchie who arrived home from Princeton University on Tuesday.  Ritchie did not disappoint  scoring a goal and an assist in his first period in a Slash uniform. 

After ringing up the Miners for 9 goals in the first period the Slash seemed content to ride the lead through and coasted to an easy win.  Although they gave up 7 goals, the Slash were playing their third game in a row with a very short bench (due to injuries) and avoided more of the physical game with a very busy weekend ahead of them.

The Slash host the Calgary Mounties Satruday night at home, then head out to Performance Arena in St. Albert to take on the JR. Miners Sunday evening.  Both games are 7:30 start times.

Notable injuries to date are Dalen Crouse (broken hand), Jon Marrese (hernia), Jeremy Boyd (ankle sprain), Andrew Buchanan (concussion).  This is a major part of the Slash line-up unavailable and will make another weekend of back-to-back games very interesting for the Slash.

 The Spruce Grove Slash saw the fruits of hard practising pay off over the last weekend with two solid wins.  Saturday night saw the Slash unleash a fury of scoring over the expansion Edmonton Sr. Miners.  Coach Trevor Gordon suited up for the Slash to fill in for injured players and picked up 5 goals and 4 assists.  Dalen Crouse kept pace with 5 goals and 3 assists and Paul Koch with a Gordie Howe hatrick, goal, fight, assist.  All in all the systems finally clicked for the Slash against the Miners.

Slash Drop Game To  The Slash came out of the gate  very undisciplined and dropped an ugly game to the Eclipse Wednesday night. The Eclipse took an early 3-0 lead in first period with a goal 32 seconds in and 2 powerplay markers.  The Slash battled back to take a 4-3 lead into the 1st intermission.  The Eclipse came out and scored 4 goals in the 2nd period with the Slash answering only once, and the Eclipse maintined their  lead until the end of the game.  The Slash did not help themselves by taking 23 minutes in penalties in the last period and a half,

Eclipse including a 5 min. spearing penalty with 5:15 to play in the game.  At the time the Slash had closed the gap to 2 goals.  The Eclipse scored on the major powerplay to put the game out of hand.  Game Notes:  Jon Marrese made his first start as a member of the Slash, Andrew Buchanan had a hat trick and Ernie Hancock had a goal and assist in his first game of the season.

Slash Exact Revenge On The Knights For 2008 Play-offs

The Spruce Grove Slash were anything but predictable Saturday night in Calgary taking on the Knights.  The Slash were given a quick wakeup call finding themselves down 1-0 only 4 seconds into the game.  From that moment on they quickly got their game face on and set about their task of an aggressive offence, effective powerplay and dominating defence.  The first period was back and forth with the Slash scoring on their first powerplay to even things up. The Knights battled hard and regained their lead.  It looked like Shaun Wilhelm had tied the game late in the first on the powerplay, but his bullet of a shot was in and out of the net so quick, both officials missed the goal.  The Slash regrouped and went on to a 5-4 lead after two periods and eventually winning the game with a solid performance by goalie Ryan Dryburgh.  The final score was 8-6 and marked the second time in two games that the Slash finished with that score. The Slash were lead in scoring by Mike Koch who  scored 4 goals and had two helpers.  Saturday's game marked the debut of recent acquisition Andy Kent (1 assist)and was also the debut of goalie Norm Shaw running the bench in place of head coach Trevor Gordon who was unavailable for the road trip.  Other notables were Dalen Crouse  (2 Goals, 3 assists), Shaun Wilhelm (1 goal, 1 assist) Andrew Buchanan (2 assist) and Ryan McNish with an amazing breakaway run from his own 24 foot line to score the game winner.

The next game is Wednesday night  at Southside Arena as the Slash take on the Edmonton Eclipse.

The Spruce Grove Slash take their home opener against the expansion Senior Miners 8-6. Captain Ryan  "Corporal Punishment" McNish opened the season with the first goal 3 minutes into the game marching from his own end all the way down the floor and burying a goal against former Slash goalie Matt Somes. He also assisted on the second goal to set the standard for the year.The Slash held a solid lead for most of the game, but ran into some serious penalty trouble giving up 4 power play goals in the last 12 minutes of the game.  The Slash were handed a total of 6 penaties for 12 minutes during the last 13 minutes of the third period.   Other notable performances were Paul Koch (2 assists) and Jordan Finkbeiner both returning after missing the entire 2008 season with injuries.