There’s no rest for the weary in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
Less than 72 hours after suffering a heartbreaking one-goal loss in Game 7 of the league semifinal to the Brooks Bandits, the Okotoks Oilers coaches and scouts put their work boots on in search of the next great Junior A hockey players at Okotoks’ annual spring camp, April 12-14 at Pason Centennial Arena.
“We’re looking for a little bit of everything,” said Oilers head coach James Poole. “We’re looking for some guys that can give us some balance in terms of giving us some size and physicality up front.
“With our identity we want to stick with being a fast team and an aggressive team.”
Calgary Midget AAA Royals product Logan O’Connor shone particularly brightly for the Oilers coaching staff.
“He’s a guy we had in our preseason tournament and in exhibition and is a guy we really like a lot,” Poole said. “We’re really hoping he’s going to become an Oiler. He’s a player that’s definitely stood out.”
Okotoks will likely return nine of 13 forwards for next season, but face a couple vacancies on the backend due to the graduation of blueliners Scott Bolland and Robert Hamilton.
“If we can add in a guy that has some size and toughness on the back end and another player that has that Hamilton ability to move the puck I think that complements what we have now,” Poole said.
Another point of emphasis for the Oilers brass was to give foothills talent a chance to show off their skills at the three-day camp.
The Oilers played most of the last two seasons without an Okotoks player on the roster, with the exception of Keaton Lubin who was shipped to Woodstock early in 2012-13.
“It’s something that we’ve always wanted,” Poole said of local representation on the roster. “The way I have to operate is I always take the best players, but if it comes down to a local player versus an out of town player and they’re even, we’re obviously going to go with the local player.”
Twenty-two players from the foothills, including UFA Midget AAA Bisons Richard Palmer, Mark Nerland, Brady Reagan, Connor Tudor and Matt Forchuk, made a bid for the green-and-black.
“There’s definitely some players that are close when you look at the Forchuks, the Tudors, players that are close to being ready to play at the Junior A level and being really good players,” Poole added. “Then you look at players two years down the road like Jaret Bordt, who’s having a good camp for us.
“I think there’s definitely some prospects that have a good chance of being on the Oilers next year.”
Bordt has dreamed of wearing the Oilers’ colours ever since the franchise arrived in Okotoks in 2005-06 when his family billeted former players Andrew Owsiak and Spencer McElhinney.
“I looked up to them,” Bordt said. “When they played I came to watch their games.”
The defenceman opted to play up at Major Midget AA with the Okotoks Oilers this season rather than play Minor Midget AAA (M-15) with the Rockyview Raiders.
It’s a decision he certainly doesn’t regret.
“I thought it was a good choice to play AA and I thought I developed because I played older players,” said Bordt, who chipped in with three goals and 19 points for the Midget AA Oilers. “I got a lot better as the year went on.”
Amidst the horde of prospects on display, Bordt’s gameplan at spring camp was to stick to the formula that makes him an effective blueliner.
Keep it simple.
“Just to play simple, stay mobile and not get flat-footed,” said Bordt, who impressed enough to earn an invite to Oilers main camp at the end of the summer. “That I’m a young player and I just want to develop and this is where I want to be in a year or two.”
