The Bow Mark Oilers saw their best season in team history come to a playoff halt.
Okotoks was eliminated from the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League best-of-five opening round playoff series in three games by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the four versus five seed Chrysler Division matchup.
“I can’t say that we didn’t work hard or didn’t do what we needed to do, I just think a lot of the bounces just weren’t going our way,” said Bow Mark Oilers head coach Ryan Barrett. “Lethbridge worked hard to get those bounces go their way and we just couldn’t seem to get them to bounce our way.
“It was an interesting series and Lethbridge deserved it.”
The fourth-seed Hurricanes made good on their home advantage in taking the series opener 4-1 in Game 1 on Feb. 18 at the Logan Boulet Arena.
Lethbridge built an early advantage with a trio of first period goals while Okotoks’ Liam Watkins notched the only goal for the visitors.
“They got some of those bounces that gave them some life and it took our guys a little bit to recover from,” Barrett said. “And they took advantage of us worrying about the past and not going after the future.
“Our guys worked hard we just couldn’t seem to get up there and even up the score and try to get a lead on that team.”
Okotoks fell 5-1 on home ice in Game 2 on Feb. 20 with Moe Hakim lighting the lamp in a losing cause.
The Canes completed the sweep in the 4-3 result in Game 3 on Feb. 21.
Lethbridge scored four in the first period with Okotoks chipping away at the lead through a Boogie Blackwater tally and a two-goal effort from Daxton Budd.
Netminder Mitch Dudar held his team in it with a 19-save performance over the final two periods.
“Game 3 we played extremely well, just they were able to capitalize on their opportunities and we didn’t do it early enough to get our opportunities,” the coach added. “They got out to a lead and we played well throughout and their goaltending was good and they played well all the way throughout.”
Barrett said the team was dealing with a number of players fighting through nagging injuries, adding that most teams are going through the same thing at this late juncture of the season.
The loss was a tough pill to swallow for the veteran-laden Oilers.
For 16 of their 20 players — Dudar, Adam Goody, Alex Frank, Lucas Watkins, Daniel Walsh, Blackwater, Max Kathol, Daniel Tainton, Kyle Newnham, Hudson Hall, Simon Smith-Burness, Ethan McKibbin, Ivan Chtchadov, Sam Simard, Hakim and Budd — the playoff exit marked the end of their minor hockey careers.
“A lot of the guys were a bit shocked, how quickly it does happen,” Barrett said. “When we’re young we just expect stuff to just go on and on and when the abrupt end comes it’s kind of like ‘wow.’ That’s the experiences you learn.
“I think a lot of guys are excited with that new opportunity that presents itself, post-secondary education or that junior level they want to approach.”
Despite the loss, Okotoks set new standards for its program in its third year.
The Oilers set franchise highs with 17 wins, 37 points while its 97 goals against is the lowest number its recorded to date.
Its work off the ice is what really stood out to the bench boss.
“We had a lot of team goals that we met and at the end of the year there can only be one team that wins their last game,” Barrett said. “For us one of the biggest assets we had was the education side that’s tied into this team.
“It’s a really bright future for our hockey team, making the academics the number one priority and the hockey will take care of itself. With Jay Langager over on the school side there doing what he needed to do to make sure these guys were doing their job at school definitely improved the program because we were able to do a lot more things with these guys because we weren’t necessarily chasing them about their grades, they were really active.
“Our program is built on those academics with hockey as a major focus, but I was really proud of how the hockey and academics intertwined this year and we were able to get that common ground.”
