Familiarity is breeding contempt for the foothills’ Junior B rivals.
The Okotoks Bisons shutout the High River Flyers 5-0, Sept. 16 at Murray Arena in Okotoks, to wrap up the preseason as the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) South Division foes get set to rekindle their rivalry for their regular season opener on Friday.
Okotoks winger Ty Fehr said the Bisons wisely used the final regular season tune-up to round out the fundamentals of their game.
“There was a lot more communication and we’re starting to do a lot more systems out there,” he said of the 5-0 win over High River. “And everyone was passing the puck more instead of trying to be more individual.”
However, the 20-year-old forward was quick to point out drawing too many conclusions from the pre-season tilt would be dangerous.
“Both teams had a lot of players sitting out so it’s not really a representation of what’s actually going to happen,” said Fehr, who has been impressed with the new crop of Bisons players. “Our rookies all know what they have to do and they’re all fighting for their spots they have to fill and they’re doing a good job.”
It was the veterans in the lineup who filled the game sheet on Sunday.
Okotoks captain Chase Fallis led the Bisons with two goals to go along with single tallies from Fehr, Dylan Griep and Kevan Mikkelsen on a beautiful shorthanded breakaway in the third period. In goal, Robert McGuiness and Tyler Hughes combined for the shutout, stopping all 29 pucks they saw.
Head coach Mike Hannigan said his Bisons were consistently sound during their five-game exhibition schedule. Okotoks posted a 4-1 record in pre-season play, an 8-4 loss to the Airdrie Thunder on Sept. 14 the only blemish through exhibition.
“We’ve played fairly well,” Hannigan said. “We had a bit of a hiccup in Airdrie and that was just (resulting) from guys coming in, guys coming out of the lineup, but we’re starting to get the chemistry together.”
Three rookie forwards in particular used the preseason to help their stock on a loaded Bisons’ roster.
“Colton Griffith has been good as a newcomer out of Kamloops,” Hannigan said. “And (Darren) Bordt and (Dylan) Boyd have both shown they’ve got the ability to play at this level.”
Still, the veteran coach knows there’s plenty of work to be done to reach the elite level the Bisons’ organization has come to expect of its players during their consecutive league championship seasons.
“We have lots of work to do on systems and those sorts of things,” Hannigan said. “But the skill level and the effort is there so that’s a good start.”
Okotoks will be hoping for a better start to its 2012 campaign, Friday 8 p.m. at the Bob Snodgrass Arena in High River, than its first trip south last year, a game in which the host Flyers skated away with a 6-5 win.
“We lost the first game and we remember these things,” Hannigan said. “But it’s always intense with them, especially the first game of the season.”
Fehr said getting the best of the Flyers often comes down to discipline.
“We just have to stay out of the box and don’t get involved with what they try to do after the whistle,” Fehr said. “That’s the only way they will beat us is if they get us off our game after the whistle.”
Flyers head coach Murray Wegener said debuting against Okotoks will be a perfect litmus test for his young club, which features just nine returning players.
“We’ve got a good rivalry with them, it’s always fun to play them,” Wegener said. “They have always been a good benchmark and they continue to be every year.
“It’s a good way to see where you’re at early in the season.”
The Bisons travel to Banff on Sept. 23 for a meeting with the Bears and return to Murray Arena for their home opener, Sept. 28 at 8 p.m., versus the Coaldale Copperheads.
For more information go to www.okotoksbisons.com.
