New year, same result for the Bisons.
Grady Nicholas turned aside all 25 shots he faced for his second shutout and the Okotoks Carstar Bisons blanked their opposition for the fifth time this season in a comprehensive 4-0 result over the Coaldale Copperheads Friday night at the Murray Arena.
“That’s the key and, at the end of the day, that’s how you’re going to win in the playoffs and in the provincial tournament,” said Bisons head coach Brad Cobb. “You need to win those one-goal hockey games and make sure they don’t score more than one.
“That’s our goal so when we get those shutouts it’s a bonus.”
Nicholas, a 2003-born netminder from Calgary, improved to a perfect 6-0 with the Bisons with two shutouts and a .929 save percentage.
“I think it’s just the team we have,” said Nicholas. “Compared to other teams in the league, we’ve got top-end talent, players from Junior A so it’s kind of more predictable for me to see what the guys on the ice are doing.
“I just play behind them, play to the system and things have been going well.”
Nicholas spent part of the season in the Junior A ranks and has been rock solid in every start with the defending HJHL champions.
“Unlucky for him for not making it there, but very lucky for us coming back here,” Cobb said. “He just brings a calming, steady presence that I think is really going to help us down the stretch.”
Forming a solid goaltending duo with Dylan Fries, the Bisons have led the HJHL all season not with a grandiose run-and-gun attack, but instead a responsible and professional approach at both ends to the ice.
For the masked warriors on the last line of defence, it’s an ideal work environment.
“I think we’re just tough to play against,” said Nicholas of the team defence. “Our defence is pretty good, especially our corps, they’re mostly Junior A guys so they’re all playing the same system and it’s just everybody knows what they’re doing, knows their job and it works out.”
In the team’s 2023 debut, Okotoks didn’t waste any time getting on the front foot.
Braedon LeGrandeur opened the scoring on a textbook deflection on a Caden Scott point shot at the 5:59 mark and less than six minutes later rookie forward Kaleb Schuller cashed in off a grinding shift from the Bisons’ energy line alongside Scott Brown and BJ Rogi.
In the middle frame, Okotoks fought through a penalty filled period and were rewarded late when Kegan Law marked his return to the lineup with his eighth goal of the campaign.
Law was sidelined since late-November with a scary upper-body injury sustained in Sylvan Lake.
“You miss it a lot more and realize what you’re missing out on, watching from the stands,” Law said. “Being out there with the guys again is like no time had past. At the start of the game I kind of didn’t have my feet under me because I was so excited to be out there again.”
Leading scorer Adam Kirkpatrick added his team leading 16th marker to see out the result in the final stanza as Okotoks iced its fourth win of the campaign versus Coaldale.
“We started the year pretty well and they we hit a bit of a drought,” Law said. “We just found a way to play a full 60 again and that’s what we’ve been preaching all year, play with our systems and trust that we have a good team.
“We knew we could play better, we needed to play better especially hosting provincials. We’ve got pressure and want to live up to that pressure. Winning last year, I was part of that, and it’s a great time and a great experience and we’re just trying to teach the young guys now that it’s worth it, all that work you put in when you lift that trophy at the end of the year.”
Along with Law’s return, top centre Alaister Standen suited up for the first time since late-October in the victory.
“It does have a big trickle down effect, it’s great to have those guys back,” Cobb said. “It just makes us that much more solid and complete as a hockey club, not only on their skill level, but their leadership. They’ve been through this last year and won it so it helps that room and calms things down where it needs to be positionally.”
The herd made it a half-dozen games without a loss by doubling up the Medicine Hat Cubs 6-3 on the road on Jan. 7.
Kirkpatrick scored twice with Standen, Schuller, Ethan MacIntyre and Boogie Blackwater also finding the back of the net. Fries made 26 saves on 29 shots.
Next weekend, Okotoks (26-2-0) is home to the Strathmore Wheatland Kings on Jan. 13 and travel to Cochrane the following night for its fourth meeting of the season with the second-seed Generals.
For more information, go to okotoksbisons.com.
