The St. Albert Merchants are a Canadian Junior B ice hockey team located in St. Albert, Alberta. They play in the Capital Junior Hockey League out of the Jarome Iginla Arena. They are coached by Niall O'Donoghue and Ian McFatridge.
The Merchants have won a total of six league titles, including four consecutive championships from 1994–95 to 1997–98. The Merchants are two time Alberta Junior B provincial champions, winning the Russ Barnes Trophy in 1986 and 1996, advancing to the Keystone Cup Junior B championships for Western Canada.
History
The Merchants were founded in 1983. They won the league championship, and the provincial championship, in 1985-86, their third year.Merchants Info They won the league championship again in the 1987-88, before finishing second at the provincials. They won the league championship again the next two years, and again in 1994-95. They repeated, yet again, in 1995-96, winning the provincial title, before finishing runner-up at the 1996 Keystone Cup. In 1996-97, the Merchants went undefeated in the regular season, before winning the league championship yet again. The following season, they finished second in the first edition of the new provincial championship, the champion of whom now won the Russ Barnes Trophy. They made the provincials again the next season, before losing in the provincial semi-finals. Since the turn of the century, the Merchants have had a number of difficult seasons, interspersed by a league title in 2004-05. They often did not progress past the first round in many seasons, before the 2012-13 season, when they returned to the league final, where they lost to the Sherwood Park Knights. They made the league final again the following year, losing again, this time to the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks. In 2014-15, they finished first in their division, but were upset in the second round by the Stony Plain Flyers. In January 2014, the Merchants donated all admission ticket sales and money raised from the 50/50 draw to the local RCMP station, in an act of remembrance for the RCMP officer killed in a shooting outside a St. Albert casino the previous year.
Franchise Regular Season leader in goals- Matt Havens(72)
Franchise Regular Season leader in assists- Casey Reid(132)
Franchise Regular Season leader in points- Casey Reid(202)
Franchise Regular Season leader in penalty- Chris Clark(360)
Franchise Regular Season leader in games played- Daniel Rombough(115)
Franchise playoff leader in goals- Casey Reid(16)
Franchise playoff leader in assists- Casey Reid(25)
Franchise playoff leader in points- Casey Reid(41)
Franchise playoff leader in penalty minutes- Jared Kwasney(91)
Franchise playoff leader in games played- Casey Reid(43)
Recent Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Records as of 2016-17 season.League Standings
Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs 2009-10 38 11 25 0 2 24 124 205 6th, West Lost First Round, (Red Wings) 2010–11 38 19 18 0 1 39 165 157 5th, West Lost First Round, (Regals) 2011-12 38 19 15 0 4 42 143 142 4th, West Lost First Round, (Mustangs) 2012-13 38 22 12 0 4 48 168 136 4th, West Lost League Final, (Knights) 2013-14 38 34 3 0 1 69 221 88 1st, West Lost League Final, (Hawks) 2014-15 38 32 6 0 0 64 198 120 1st, West Lost Second Round, (Flyers) 2015-16 38 24 12 0 5 50 185 139 3rd, West Won First Round, 2-1 (Flyers)Won Quarters, 3-2 (Mustangs)Lost Semifinals, 1-4 (Chiefs) 2016-17 38 18 16 0 4 40 147 173 4th, West Lost First Round, 0-2 (Flyers) 2017-18 38 21 16 0 1 43 150 150 4th, WestWon First Round, 2-1 (Flyers)Lost Quarters, 0-3 (Warriors) 2018-19 38 14 19 1 4 33 136 167 4th, West Won Qualifying Round, 2-0 (Mustangs)Lost Quarterfinals 0-3 (Warriors) 2019-20 38 23 14 0 1 47 181 159 3rd of 7 West5th of 14 LeagueWon First Round, 2-1 (Flyers)Lost Quarters, 2-3 (Warriors) 2020-21 4 0 3 0 1 1 12 21 Remainder of Season Cancelled due to Covid 2021-22 38 25 9 0 4 54 168 104 1st of 7 West3rd of 14 LeagueLost Quarters, 2-3 (Red Wings) 2022-23 38 31 4 - 3 65 247 98 1st of 7 West1st of 14 League Won Quarterfinals 3-0 (Flyers)Won Semifinals 3-2 (Chiefs)Lost League Finals 1-4 (Knights) 2023-24 38 32 5 0 1 65 234 102 1st of 7 West1st of 14 LeagueWon Quarterfinals 3-0 (Flyers)Won Semifinals 3-2 (Jets)Won League Finals, 4-1 (Chiefs)advance to Alberta Provincials 2024-25 38 27 9 - 2 56 188 124 2nd of 7 West4th of 14 League Lost Quarterfinals 0-3 (Mustangs) 2025-26 38 13 22 0 3 29 144 178 5th of 7 West11th of 14 LeagueWon Qualifying Rd 2-1 (Red Wings)Lost Semifinals 1-3 (Mustangs)
Alberta Jr. B Provincial Championships Year Round Robin Record Standing SemiFinal Bronze Medal Game Gold Medal Game 2024 L, Okotoks Bisons, 5-6L, Wainwright Bisons, 0–4W, NWCAA Stampeders, 8-2W, North Peace Navigators, 9-5 2-2–0 3rd of 6 n/a Won 6-5Wainwright BisonsBronze Medalists n/a
See also
List of ice hockey teams in Alberta
References
External links
Team Website