A dominant performance in a penalty filled affair ensured Okotoks’ Midget AA hockey team wasn’t burned by the Taber Golden Suns.
The Okotoks Midget AA Oilers shutout the visiting Taber Golden Suns 5-0 in South Central Alberta Hockey League (SCAHL) action Oct. 13 at the Murray Arena in Okotoks. Taber skated away with a shocking 3-2 win to spoil Okotoks’ home opener last season.
“We had kind of a flat start through the first half of the first period,” said Okotoks assistant coach Andrew Owsiak. “After that we came together pretty well.”
The Oilers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of tallies from Connor Froc in the first and second period before a donnybrook broke out in the middle frame.
With 12:01 left in the period all 10 players on the ice, including Froc and Oilers captain Trent Schussler, squared off and were consequently kicked out of the game.
“There was a line skirmish in front of their net and the ref kicked out all five guys on the ice,” Owsiak said.
Both the Oilers and Golden Suns had just six players on their bench after the game misconducts were handed out.
“It’s a little tougher managing them with guys being more tired,” Owsiak said. “I think they played well after that happened.”
Brayden Hawryluk made sure the Oilers kept the momentum, scoring a beautiful shorthanded breakaway tally on a backhand-to-forehand deke after a nice feed from defenceman Jaret Bordt.
The Oilers kept on the forecheck and were rewarded again when Harrison Smith dragged the puck to the net from the corner leading to a tap-in for Sean McMaster.
The third period was more of the same as Taber struggled to contain the down-low pressure of Okotoks.
Power forward Robbie McLean added a late insurance marker when he held the puck on a two-on-one break and beat Taber netminder Dylan Swanson with a low shot stick side.
At the other end of the ice, Richard Palmer stopped all 28 shots he faced to earn his second shutout of the season.
Owsiak said the line of McMaster, McLean and Kyle Becker stepped up in the second half of the game for the undermanned Oilers.
“They’re a really solid line and really picked their game up,” he said.
McMaster said it was a pretty complete effort from the Oilers.
“We held it in their end most of the game, I thought we had a good penalty kill when we were shorthanded,” McMaster said. “We were physical too and buried all of our chances.”
McMaster’s line skated together as a trio last season for the Midget-15 Keystone Raiders and its experience is noticeable on the ice.
“We have really good chemistry together,” McMaster said. “We can bury the puck and we’re really good down low.”
Okotoks made a promising start to the year both in and out of the SCAHL. The Oilers won the Salmon Arm Midget Hockey Tournament on Oct. 7 with a late comeback win over North Vancouver.
“In the final game we were down 2-0 with five minutes left and we came back to win and scored three goals in regulation,” Owsiak said. “It was a great way to start the year and to give the guys confidence that we can comeback facing adversity.”
Becker agreed with his coach’s assessment, adding the tournament title gave the Oilers a big boost in advance of their home opener.
“That motivated us to come into our first game of the season at home,” Becker said. “We were just really confident coming into this one.”
The Oilers (2-0) have a busy week ahead with four games, capped off by a home-and-home set with the rival Foothills Bisons. The back end of the series goes on Oct. 21 at Pason Centennial Arena in Okotoks at 4:15 p.m. For more information on the Oilers go to www.ooaaoilerhockey.ca.
