| Team: | St. Albert Merchants |
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| City: | St. Albert, Alberta |
| League: | Capital Junior Hockey League |
| Division: | West Division |
| Founded: | -84 |
| Arena: | Jarome Iginla Arena |
| Colours: | Blue, Gold, Grey, White |
| Coach: | Niall O'Donoghue |
| Gm: | Steve Barwick |
| Captain: | Dylan Mcfatridge |
| Website: | www.stalbertmerchants.com |
| Name1: | St. Albert Merchants |
| Dates1: | 1983-present |
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.[1] 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.
The Merchants were founded in 1983. They won the league championship, and the provincial championship, in 1985-86, their third year.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4]
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)
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.[5]
| 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, West | Won 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 West 5th of 14 League | Won 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 West 3rd of 14 League | Lost Quarters, 2-3 (Red Wings) | |
| 2022-23 | 38 | 31 | 4 | - | 3 | 65 | 247 | 98 | 1st of 7 West 1st 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 West 1st of 14 League | Won Quarterfinals 3-0 (Flyers) Won Semifinals 3-2 (Jets) Won League Finals, 4-1 (Chiefs) advance to Alberta Provincials |
| Year | Round Robin | Record | Standing | SemiFinal | Bronze Medal Game | Gold Medal Game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | L, Okotoks Bisons, 5-6 L, Wainwright Bisons, 0–4 W, NWCAA Stampeders, 8-2 W, North Peace Navigators, 9-5 | 2-2–0 | 3rd of 6 | n/a | Won 6-5 Wainwright Bisons Bronze Medalists | n/a |