It was a classic case of too little, too late for the Okotoks Oilers in the second round of the playoffs.
The Oilers were eliminated from the Alberta Junior Hockey League post-season following a 4-3 loss to the Olds Grizzlys in Game 6, March 15 at the Olds Sports Complex, of the best-out-of-seven quarterfinal series. Olds won the series 4-2.
In Game 6 the teams skated to a scoreless first period with the shots even at 11. The home team took control in the second period, using the special teams to build a three-goal lead on Okotoks. Grizzlys’ forward Brandon Clowes opened the scoring with a shorthanded marker 6:17 into the middle frame. Mitch Owsley made it 2-0 with a powerplay tally at 10:26 and Clowes added his second of the period with yet another goal on the man advantage at 14:38.
The Grizzlys carried a 3-0 lead into the third period before the Oilers’ mounted an impressive comeback attempt. Tyler Krause got the Oilers on the board just 2:10 into the period and Scott Bolland made it 3-2 with a powerplay tally at 6:58. Grizzlys’ diminutive speedster Dylan Hubbs scored his fourth goal of the series to give Olds a 4-2 lead with just 7:31 left in the game. Despite the odds stacked against them, Okotoks would not give up and captain Derek Bacon scored another powerplay goal to make it 4-3 with 1:08 on the clock. That was as close as the Oilers would get as the Grizzlys killed off the remaining time to win the series and advance to an AJHL semifinal showdown with the vaunted Brooks Bandits.
The shots on goal were even at 33 and both team’s had success on the man advantage with two powerplay goals each. Okotoks was without the services of injured top-four defencemen Rhett Holland, Craig Gans and Matt Maleschuk as well as skilled forward Greg Lamoureux.
See this week’s Western Wheel for the full story.
