Vikings U18 hockey team finishes in first place

By Murray Green

The Camrose Vikings U18 team are in first place in the Northern Alberta Hockey League’s rural conference after the regular season.

Camrose has a 24-6-2 record with 134 goals for and just 59 goals against.

“We have the best defence in the league, not just the goalies,” said trainer and parent Conrad Taylor. “The forwards play well defensively too, so as a team we have the least amount of goals against.”

Josh Hagel coaches the team along with Kobe Charchun, Dylan Davies, Graydon Gotaas and Tim Davies.

Jack Davies was the leading scorer for the Vikings with 12 goals and 28 assists for 40 points. Right behind him was Luka Taylor with 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points.

Camrose has the top two goalies in the league with Nicholas Taylor leading the way with a 1.71 goals against average and a .941 save percentage along with 13 wins and seven shut outs. The previous high in shut outs was five.

His teammate Ty Djos has a 1.89 average and .931 save percentage with nine wins and two shut outs.

“We have set a record for most wins in our rural conference in the history of the league, going back to 2010. In the first year or two a team had 20 wins”

An Edmonton team finished with 27 wins and 55 points.

The U18 team is double-A and is the highest level in Camrose Minor Hockey.

“We have a great group of players, parents and coaching staff. For my boys and a lot of the players, this has been the best team they have been on and to be this successful. This group is something special,” said Conrad.

After league play, the team were involved in playoffs on March 9 to 11. It was a tournament style of playoffs in Beaumont. The top teams will advance to league finals and provincials. Camrose played Beaumont, Lloydminster and Lakeland in the first round of playoffs.