The Drayton Valley Thunder finished the 2025-2026 regular season with back-to-back matches against the Grande Prairie Storm last weekend, and unfortunately, missed the mark in both.
Friday, they fell 4-1 to a crowd of 1,777 at the Bonnetts Energy Centre in Grande Prairie.
The Storm scored once in the first frame and netted three in period two.
The second frame also saw players on both teams take fighting majors and a handful of roughing minors at multiple points. Grande Prairie’s Zachary Wilson and Drayton’s Breken Northgrave dropped the gloves at 15:39. The Thunder’s Lachlan Staniforth, Damian Hill and Jack Sears all earned roughing minors at 13:19 and 20:00.
Drayton’s Lukas Miller and the Storm’s Matthew Gillard started another fight in the third at 16:35.
At 17:47, Grande Prairie’s Chase Christensen went to the box for cross-checking, sending the Thunder to a powerplay, where Daniel Zhou scored the team’s single goal of the night. The helper went to Kingston Sauter.
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The rink was also full on Saturday, with 1,979 fans in the stands.
Nathan Cole scored the Thunder’s only goal of the night and his sixth of the season at 7:42 of the first frame, with assistance from Antonio Bevacqua.
However, Grande Prairie, had four of their own to make it 4-1 for the Storm after 20 minutes.
Two more Grande Prairie goals in the second period made it 6-1 after 40 minutes.
The third period saw Grande Prairie finish off the night’s scoring with two more goals to make it an 8-1 final in favour of the hoem team.
Both teams kept the penalties to a minimum on night two.
However, the Thunder finished the regular season sixth in the AJHL South Division, with a record of 14-35-4-2.
Meantime, Drayton’s Taynton Lavender is a finalist for the AJHL’S Most Valuable Player and Outstanding Defenceman league awards.
Winners will be determined through a final round of voting and announced following the completion of the AJHL regular season. They will also be nominated for national recognition through the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Within the organization, the Drayton Valley Thunder Team Award winners have been named:
- Most Valuable Player: Taynton Lavender
- Most Dedicated Player: Keston Beagle
- Most Improved Player: Caedem Emmett
- Top Forward: Daniel Zhou
- Top Defenceman: Taynton Lavender
- Heart and Soul: Kingston Sauter
- Unsung Hero: Dylan Snelgrove and Colson Ganser
- Rookie of the Year: Damian Hill
- Coaches Award: Loughlan McMullan
- Fan Choice: Caedem Emmett
- Leading Scorer: Taynton Lavender
- Monte Waronek Leadership Award: Keston Beagle
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