The Okotoks Bisons are showing there’s different ways to keep the winning ways going.
On the heels of a pair of lopsided victories, the Bisons flexed their might at the other end of the ice with a hard-earned 4-1 triumph over a gritty Medicine Hat Cubs squad on Oct. 15 at the Murray Arena to extend their winning streak in the Heritage Junior Hockey League to seven games.
“These games are the ones we want to play in,” said Bisons rookie forward Adam Kirkpatrick. “Especially as our goal at the end of the year is to do one thing and these games are going to be the ones that get us there, not the blowouts.
“We’ve got to show up for these games and play hard, for sure.”
Layton Draper continued to be a brick wall on the last line of defence with 42 saves on the night, improving to 8-0 on the season.
“Our goalie really played well today,” said Bisons blueliner Boogie Blackwater. “And we had most of our d-men playing, (Owen George) got injured at the beginning, but other than that our D really stepped up today and we shut down their top line and their top players.
“They hit a lot and they’re more intimidating than usual, they dump and chase and they’re not a slow team either, they move really fast. It was good to have some competition.”
Kirkpatrick opened the scoring in the first and added his second of the night early in the middle stanza.
The Cubs countered with Conner Miller lighting the lamp just over two minutes into the frame with Bisons alternate captain Simon Smith-Burness adding a rebound tally on a mad scramble in front of goal for some much needed insurance heading into the third.
“We’ve got to get put in our place sometimes after we bit a team like we did against (High River),” Blackwater added. “We started off a little slow today and it showed so when they finally put pressure we saw it and came out in the second and it showed that we were the top team in the South.”
The Cubs came out with added urgency in the final frame, but couldn’t solve Draper.
Kaden Uchacz rounded out the scoring for Okotoks with an empty net tally after being chopped down on a clearcut breakaway and still managing to fire the puck into the yawning cage.
“We love Draper, he’s been a great kid. He was a little quiet at the start, but we got him in and the big thing for him was confidence and it’s showed that he has it now,” Blackwater said. “As a d-corps, we do talk to him more than he talks to us, but it’s more of like when he gets the puck we need to get him in the game or if there’s a face-off we tell him what we’re doing for sure.
“He’s a pretty quiet kid, he doesn’t talk a lot and it’s not like we expect him to, but we’re a good d-group and can handle ourselves and have good pairings. He’s just there to stop the puck.”
Okotoks was without a number of key players on the night, particularly in the forward ranks with Alaister Standen, Jaevon Buschlen, Andrew Bonham and Austin O’Bray not in the lineup.
And they didn’t miss a beat.
“We’re deep, eight D, we’ve got 14 forwards and we’ve got great APs (affiliate players), “ Kirkpatrick said. “Browner (Kaleb Brown) was up for us today, he played great, bumping bodies out there and it’s great to have a deep lineup like we do.”
On the road the following night, the Bisons extended their points streak yet saw its winning run halted in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Sylvan Lake Wranglers on Oct. 16.
Defenceman Brayden Kapty scored his first two goals of the season, the second in the last minute of regulation to force overtime, with the Wranglers rallying on a Peyton Wright tally 41 seconds into the extra session.
Draper allowed 4 goals on 20 shots and registered his first defeat in goal with Okotoks.
Next up for Okotoks (8-1-1) is a two-game weekend on home ice versus the Mountainview Colts on Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. followed by a matinee clash with the Coaldale Copperheads on Oct. 24, a 1:15 p.m. puck-drop.
For more information go to okotoksbisons.com.
