The inclement winter weather did nothing to cool down a sizzling Okotoks Bisons offence.
Okotoks extended its winning streak to four games to start the Heritage Junior Hockey League season with a pair of victories over the weekend, throwing over 100 pucks on net in a 8-4 romp over the Sylvan Lake Wranglers on the heels of a 5-4 road result over the Coaldale Copperheads.
“We have the team to go all the way this year,” said Bisons head coach Chris Beston. “It’s just a matter of putting it all together and putting a full 60 minutes together.”
Even amongst the parade of goals, there were some areas for improvement.
The Bisons got to work early to close the weekend with a five-goal opening frame versus the Wranglers at the Murray Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Devyn Stewart opened the floodgates at the four-minute mark, Tyler Witzke added his second of the season on a deflection in front of goal and the Bisons added three more in a 95-second span late in the frame to grab the commanding 5-0 advantage.
Stewart notched his second of the game and fourth of the weekend on a set-up from Jagger Thiessen, Michael Bentz hammered in a rocket shot 16 seconds later and Turner Valley’s Tyson Scott added another on the next shift.
“Every game so far our first periods have been terrible,” Beston said. “And we needed to get off to a fast start and set the tone early and we did that.”
Sylvan Lake got on the board through a Dayton Playford powerplay goal 1:32 into the middle stanza.
The Okotoks quick strike offence struck again late in the frame as Brennan Schwark and Ryan Bedard scored just 59 seconds apart, the latter the first goal as a Bison for the Okotokian.
Witzke potted his second of the game seven minutes into the final frame. Taite Opdendries, Zane Bennett and Austin Lawson added late markers for the Wranglers to round out the scoring.
“We just didn’t finish,” Beston said of the end of the contest. “We got up 5-0 and kind of coasted our way in.”
Matt Baba took over in goal in relief of Devin Reagan after the first period and made 18 saves in his first action of the 2019-20 regular season.
Witzke finished with four points on the night, Schwark had three points while Tyler Alger chipped in with three assists and Thiessen registered two helpers. Okotoks had 13 skaters contribute on the scoresheet.
The weekend opened with a much more evenly contested battle.
Okotoks fought off an early two-goal deficit to skate to a 5-4 win over the Coaldale Copperheads on Saturday night in the Snake Pit.
“We showed a lot of resiliency,” Beston said.
Stewart and Scott both scored twice in the victory. Austin O’Bray had the other marker on the powerplay. Okotokian Kale Hawryluk, a smooth-skating right-shot defenceman, added an assist in his first game with the Bisons.
Scott notched the game-winner unassisted with just 2:36 left in regulation as Okotoks poured 45 shots on goal, including 19 in the third period alone.
Both Scott, a veteran of 127 games in the AJHL, and Hawryluk, who spent two seasons with the KIJHL’s Columbia Valley Rockies, should prove to be major additions for Okotoks at both ends of the ice.
“They add a lot of depth to our offence,” Beston added. “Tyson Scott, he’s played in the AJHL for the last three years, he bolsters any lineup and he’s a big addition to our front end. Kale Hawryluk, he’s an offensive defenceman that will become crucial to us this year.”
Reagan made 30 saves to solidify the two-point effort.
Okotoks is back on home ice this weekend for an Oct. 4 date with the Strathmore Wheatland Kings at 8 p.m. at the Murray Arena.
The Bisons then hit the road north to clash with the Stettler Lightning on Oct. 5.
For more information go to okotoksbisons.com
