Jets earn three points during opening weekend, claim victory on home ice 

by Stephen Dafoe 

The Morinville Jets kicked off their 2024-2025 regular season with an intense road matchup against the St. Albert Merchants on Friday, Sept. 20. The Jets fought hard throughout 60 minutes but ultimately fell 5-4 in overtime. 

St. Albert’s Hudson Ketsa opened the scoring at 15:46, but Morinville’s Cade Van Brabant tied the game just two minutes later, assisted by Beckett Perrott and Josh Konanz. 

The Jets surged ahead in the second period with goals from Perrott and Konanz, but St. Albert responded with a short-handed goal from David Saunders and a late tally by Carter Will to knot the game at 3-3 heading into the third. 

Owen Bourque’s power-play goal midway through the third gave the Merchants a 4-3 lead, but Ty Van Brabant scored the equalizer with just under five minutes left, sending the game to overtime. 

In the extra frame, Carter Will scored his second of the night on the power play at 1:38, securing a 5-4 victory for the Merchants.  

Home Ice victory 

The Morinville Jets returned to home ice on Sunday, Sept. 22, to face the Beverly Warriors in their second game of the weekend, securing a dominant 6-3 victory at the Morinville Ice Palace. 

The Jets started strong, with Cody Laliberte opening the scoring at 14:22 on a power play, assisted by Graeme Hampton and Ashton Funk. Although the Warriors tied the game less than a minute later with a goal from Evan Nicholas, the Jets regained control with two more power-play goals. Ethan Dechamplain found the net at 11:06, followed by Laliberte’s second of the night at 7:40, giving the Jets a 3-1 power-play-dominated lead by the end of the first. 

The second period saw Beverly battle back to tie the game 3-3 with goals from Zion Fraser and Adam Demchuk. Morinville quickly regained the lead with Isaac Kinsella’s goal at 7:20, followed by an unassisted effort from Graeme Hampton at 6:17, making it 5-3 heading into the third. 

In the final period, Jamie Visser sealed the win with a power-play goal just 51 seconds in, assisted by Ashton Funk. The Jets closed the game with a decisive 6-3 victory. 

The Jets have three games this week. They play the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in Rivière Qui Barre, follow that with a road game Friday to face the Leduc Coop Riggers and return to Morinville on Sunday at 6:45 p.m. to take on the Stony Plain Flyers.