The Okotoks Midget AA Oilers are slowly getting used to life without their most valuable player. Netminder Richard Palmer?s mid-season call up to the Midget AAA UFA Bisons has been the Strathmore club?s gain and the Okotoks outfit?s loss.
The Okotoks Midget AA Oilers are slowly getting used to life without their most valuable player.
Netminder Richard Palmer?s mid-season call up to the Midget AAA UFA Bisons has been the Strathmore club?s gain and the Okotoks outfit?s loss.
?It?s been a bit of an adjustment for us,? admitted Oilers head coach Cliff Bordt. ?Some of our third-year guys were rattled that he is gone because I mean he?s a really good player and a big part of our team.?
Palmer was the named the Oilers? most valuable player last season, voted the top goaltender in the South Central Alberta Hockey League (SCAHL) and was up to his old tricks to start the 2012-13 season.
The Okotoks goalie posted a 6-0 record before being promoted to the UFA Bisons.
Due in part to the talented puck stopper, the Midget AA Oilers stormed out of the gate with an 8-0 mark and have since lost four of six on the heels of their netminder?s departure.
?It was a little bit tough. There were some who struggled of course at first,? said Oilers forward Brodie Wilson. ?We?re getting used to it now and don?t have to change much. The two goalies we have are good goalies.?
Left in charge of stopping the puck are first-year Oiler goalies Griffin Segboer and Garrett Mason, who was recently called up from the Midget 1 Oilers.
Bordt said he experimented with a more conservative style of play to ease the transitions of the young goalies into the everyday lineup and the move backfired.
?Initially, we decided to play more defensively,? Bordt said. ?Those chances we took and left our goalie with two-on-ones we didn?t want to see anymore and we paid for it in the first few games. Now we?re more comfortable again.?
The transition in between the pipes is being tackled head on by the Oilers? coaching staff.
?We?re going to be splitting the starts and goaltenders like players are accountable,? Bordt said. ?We have challenged them to get better in practice and that?s where it has to start. Last week we challenged them to count their goals in practice when they?re getting two or three-hundred shots and to go out there and be the same way in the game.?
A full complement of skaters wouldn?t hurt the Oilers either. Top defencemen Trent Schussler and Hunter Young are just now returning from suspensions while forwards Steele Erickson, Harrison Smith and Connor Froc are in the infirmary.
The Oilers showed signs of their old selves on the weekend by outlasting the Cranbrook Ice by a 4-1 score. Veteran Oiler blueliner Cameron Frammingham said he hopes the result is a sign of things to come for the club.
?We?re just going to have to protect the net more,? Frammingham said. ?I?m hoping that we can start going here and get used to our new goalies a little more.?
The Oilers (10-4) can continue their momentum tonight, Nov. 28, in Calgary when they meet the CNHA Blazers. Okotoks then moves north to square off with the Airdrie Lightning, the North division?s current kingpin.
Okotoks returns home on Dec. 2 when it hosts the Red Deer Elks at the Murray Arena at 6:30 p.m.
For more information on the Midget AA Oilers go to www.ooaaoilerhockey.com.
