The Okotoks Bisons aren’t resting on their laurels after their second consecutive perfect postseason run and third straight league championship.
Not satisfied with their accomplishments, the Bisons have quickly turned their focus on unfinished business at the Junior B provincials, where Okotoks is seeking its elusive first banner.
The Bisons set goals of a Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL) regular season title and a league championship followed by gold medals at provincials and western Canadians. However, they are only halfway to realizing their lofty expectations.
“We wanted it all and the (league title) is just two of four,” said Bisons general manager Jay McFarlane. “We’re going for it, we’re looking for gold now.”
The Bisons can climb the next rung as they head to Wainwright for the Junior B Provincials April 4-7.
Gold was close enough for the Bisons to taste as provincial hosts last year. The Whitecourt Wolverines had other plans, however, and handed Okotoks a 5-1 romp in the 2012 provincial final.
Fast forward one year and the Bisons look to be one of the tournament favourites as HJHL champions including a remarkable regular season record of 33-2-2-1 and a perfect 11-0 playoff record including a sweep of a dangerous Red Deer Vipers team in the final.
“This is good momentum, a good roll for us to go to provincials with,” said Bisons forward Zak Johns. “Knowing we can beat Red Deer, one of the teams that’s going to be in the tournament is a good high for us.”
The rookie winger is part of a balanced scoring attack at the heart of Okotoks’ wildly successful campaign. Led by the primary scoring line of Dillon Loomer, Chase Fallis and Jeremy Smith, all of who finished top-13 in scoring, the Bisons torched the HJHL with 223 goals in 38 games.
In the playoffs, the depth in the forward corps shone through once again.
In the postseason the Bisons were led by a newly formed line centred by Jordan Eddy, along with wingers Phil Dillon and Spencer Samuel.
Eddy led all skaters with 12 goals in the playoffs, while Dillon was tied for first in points with 23.
“They’re definitely clicking, they have lots of eyes on the back of their head and are able to see lots of things I don’t see until it actually happens,” McFarlane said. “Quick shots from both Spencer and Jordan and with the nice hands of Phil it’s a nice combination.”
Defensively, the Bisons are anchored by the number-one pairing of Kevan Mikkelsen and Matt Howatt, but there is depth with veteran players Michael Savage, Dylan Griep and Eddie Tracy. Freshman blueliners Tyson Arnholtz and Bryce Honish have added a steadying presence to the back-end as well.
In goal, the dynamic duo of Okotokian Tyler Hughes and rookie Alex Bilton should continue to split starts at the condensed schedule at provincials.
The Bisons, who feature 12 players from last year’s silver medal team should be considered a favourite to come out of Pool B.
CBHA Rangers
There’s a new kid on the block at the Junior B provincials.
For the first time since 1987, the Calgary Buffaloes Hockey Association (CBHA) Rangers will represent the Calgary Junior B Hockey League (CJHL) at the provincial championships.
The Rangers swept the defending champion Calgary Royals Blue in three games to advance to the big dance.
“We made the city finals two years ago and got knocked out by the Northeast Blazers, we had a tough year last year and we’re back stronger again this year,” said Rangers head coach Jon Inglis. “My goal this year was to make city finals again and then go from there. It’s a nice little icing on the cake for the season.”
The core leadership group for Calgary, including alternates Mike Ladobruk, Shawn Bauer, Nick Licowski and team captain Joel Hogue are the engine driving the Ranger bus.
“Our captains have been huge,” Inglis said. “The fact they’re all vets, they all know what it takes to win playoffs.”
The Rangers, who finished third in the CJHL with a 22-11-2 mark, were led offensively by Spencer Barlow-Lakusta and Brendan Borbely, both of whom surpassed 40 points.
On the back-end, Ladobruk and Evan Osiowy log heavy minutes.
Looking ahead to a first taste of provincials, the Rangers feel their physicality and structured forecheck are tailor made to counter their unfamiliar opposition.
“We’ve got a guy in each line that will go in there first, a quick, speedy guy, who loves taking the body and he will be the workhorse of that line and the other two are there to put the puck in the net,” Inglis said. “I’m preparing the guys for a lot quicker, a lot crisper, a lot tighter game and I think the boys are ready to go.
“I don’t expect anything less than a medal.”
Sherwood Park Knights
There’s no wait until next year for the Sherwood Park Knights’ pursuit of a third provincial banner as time is not a luxury the veteran-laden Knights have.
“The big thing with this team is half of them will be gone next year, it’s a team that was built for this year,” said Knights manager Brandon Lynch. “We’re losing 13 of our 24 guys so this year has been about winning it for the guys who aren’t going to play next year.”
Sherwood Park fought off a tough start to the anticipated campaign to finish tops in the East division with a record of 28-9-1 behind a speed-oriented offence.
“We’re not a very big team, but we have a lot of speed and a lot of depth,” Lynch said. “We’ve got a lot of offence, but we have some good defencemen too and I think we have the best goalie in the league.”
The statistics back up Lynch’s assessment as netminder Brett Lewis finished tops in wins in the Capital Junior Hockey League.
The Knights don’t have any holdovers from the 2008 provincial and Keystone Cup championship teams, or the silver medal-winning roster from the 2009 provincials.
However, several of the players were on board for the Knights’ second place finish as hosts of the Keystone Cup in 2011.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys who have seen the tournament format for provincials or westerns,” Lynch said. “We want to go all the way and go to westerns. It’s a team that can do it.”
Wainwright Bisons
The tournament hosts enter the provincial championships in less than an ideal frame of mind.
The Bisons dropped their North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League (NEAJBHL) final series 4-1 to the Cold Lake Ice, but as league finalists and hosts were assured a spot in the provincials.
“The Bisons haven’t been to a league final in over a decade so it was an honour to go that far,” said Bisons assistant general manager Jordan Walsh. “We wanted to cap it off, but we’ve got to shake it off fast and prepare for provincials.”
The community of just under 6,000 is rallying behind the Bisons, which should give the NEAJBHL finalists a boost in their first provincial game since 2001.
“It’s a really big deal. We’re getting a lot of support from the community,” Walsh said. “We made the league final so we didn’t go through the backdoor, at least we earned our spot and that with the home-ice advantage should give the boys a pump-up.”
Wainwright won’t shoot the lights out on most nights. The Bisons do not feature a top-10 scorer in their league, but they do boast balance in scorers Lukas Biensch, Derek Pfisterer, Cody Foley, Cody Bird and Jason McKinlay.
Instead, the Bisons grind out low scoring results and shut down opponents as they surrendered a league-low 77 goals in the NEAJBHL.
Goaltenders Ronald Paulson and Shane Tomlinson are a big reason for the statistic. Paulson led all netminders in wins, goals against average, save percentage and was tops with six shutouts on the campaign.
“We have a good defence corps and have a really strong goaltender in Ronald Paulson,” Walsh said. “I wouldn’t say we play a trap style, but something like that and we’ve got some big guns up front who can put the puck in the net.”
Wainwright will look to be the first NEAJBHL team to win the provincial gold medal since the Lloydminster Bandits accomplished the feat in 2009.
Wainwright will open pool play on April 4 against Okotoks in the Battle of the Bisons.
“Our goal is to win it and whether or not that’s realistic we’ll find out early,” Walsh said. “Playing Okotoks first game will give us a bit of a measuring stick.”
