The Heritage Junior Hockey League regular season title is coming back to Okotoks for the first time in six years.
The Okotoks Bisons (29-6-1) locked up their first Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) regular season crown since 2006-07 and their third consecutive South Division title after sweeping a two-game weekend set with wins over the Coaldale Copperheads and High River Flyers.
Bisons coach and general manager Jay McFarlane said finishing with the best record in the league was the first of many goals the team has set for a season in which they will host the provincials in April.
“It gives us home ice advantage all the way through. I think that’s an accomplishment and it’s nice to be on top,” McFarlane said. “The regular season doesn’t really mean anything after that, but (winning the title) was something we focused on and it was a good little race. Red Deer, Three Hills and Cochrane kept us on our heels and I think we earned it.”
Pugilistic forward Zachary Baba said earning the right to start every series at home is crucial to the Bisons’ playoff hopes.
“Home ice advantage is a must in the playoffs, it helps out a lot,” Baba said. “The boys worked hard to get it and we deserve it.”
Sophomore forward Phil Dillon said the Bisons would have benefited from home ice advantage last season as they put together a perfect record at Murray Arena during the 2011 playoffs.
“Last year we didn’t lose a game at home (in the post-season) so it’s going to be huge for us,” Dillon said.
Okotoks has put together a dominant 2011-12 season and sit at the apex of most of the league’s statistics.
The Bisons have a massive lead in goal differential, with 119 more goals scored than allowed, and have all but locked up the goals for title with 234 tallies through 36 games. They’ve been stingy defensively as well, with the lowest goals against in the South Division.
“I think all the stats are impressive for our team,” McFarlane said. “We’re one of the leaders in penalty minutes, that’s not always something you want to brag about or be a positive, but it also says we’ve got a tough team that’s not going to get pushed around with the talent to go with it.”
The Bisons general manger said the deployment used by the coaching staff this season has afforded everyone on the roster with experience in all situations.
“We’ve really given everyone an opportunity to contribute and I think that’s really going to be important in the long run. If you keep relying on a couple guys to get you where you need to go I think you’re in trouble in the long run from an endurance standpoint,” he said.
With two games left with no bearing on Okotoks’ playoff positioning, Dillon said there are still a number of individual goals the players will be looking to accomplish.
“A bunch of us are trying to beat our career (best) stats from last year so I think that’s going to motivate most of us,” Dillon said.
One race to keep an eye on is Dillon Loomer’s attempt at winning a scoring crown. Loomer, a first-year Bison, is tied for the league lead with 31 goals and, with 65 points, has a one point advantage over Medicine Hat Cubs forward Kyle Funk. Meanwhile, Bisons netminder Tyler Hughes has locked up the HJHL wins category with 17 and sits in first place in both goals against average (2.37) and save percentage (.929)
The Bisons finish their regular season schedule with a Feb. 4 date with the Cubs in Medicine Hat followed by their finale, Feb. 7 in Banff, when they tangle with the Academy Bears. For more information log on to www.okotoksbisons.com.
