To be the best you have to beat the best.
That’s the tall order facing the Okotoks Oilers in their Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) semifinal series with the vaunted Brooks Bandits, the top-ranked Junior A team in Canada.
“All along Brooks has been the team to beat and the favourite to win the championship this year and we really wanted to have a shot to play them in a seven-game series,” said Oilers head coach James Poole. “We know it’s going to be really tough, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“We want to win a championship here and to do that you want to beat the best teams and we’re obviously going against the best team here.”
Of that there is no argument.
The defending champion Bandits stormed out of the gate with a 20-game winning streak and ran away with the South Division with an impressive mark of 53-4-3, setting an AJHL record in points and wins in a season.
“I think it’s going to be a good series. (Okotoks) obviously possess a lot of the same weapons we do,” said Bandits head coach Ryan Papaioannou. “We’re definitely ready for it, we’re excited to get going and hopefully we can draw on our experiences from last year.”
Brooks extinguished the Drumheller Dragons’ playoff desires in five games where the Bandits spread out offensive riches with seven skaters posting more than a point-per-game production, led by AJHL MVP and captain Cam Maclise.
“He does what a lot of small, skill guys can do, but he can do it at six-foot-three and 200 pounds,” said Papaioannou of his captain. “He’s just incredible in his work-ethic, maturity and experience.”
Shutting down Brooks’ top line featuring top-10 scorers Maclise and Anthony Petruzzelli will be a focus for the Oiler forwards.
Okotoks pivot Spencer Kryczka said taking time and space away from the skill players on Brooks and adding the odd verbal jab should get the Bandits off their game.
“Against Olds and Camrose our line specifically, but a lot of our guys, were getting under the skin of the skill guys,” Kryczka said. “We have to keep being physical, keep getting under their skin and I think a lot of their guys will shut it down after a little while if we keep banging them.”
The Oilers should walk into the series with chests pumped out as well, having produced the second best record in the league to Brooks and riding high off a series sweep of the Camrose Kodiaks.
Rookie winger John Edwardh has been a man-possessed for Okotoks with five-game winning goals in the playoffs and a team-high 12 points, slightly edging sniper Chris Collins who has 11.
Papaioannou noted the dangers posed by the Oilers’ top line centered by Collins, but stated team balance and depth at all positions is the strength of both teams.
“The (Okotoks) goaltending is strong and the defence like always is just real well balanced,” Papaioannou said. “There’s really no weak spot on the team. They’re similar to us where they can come at you from all angles.”
The Oilers’ bench boss knows a run-and-gun offensive exhibition against the top-scoring Bandits is a recipe for disaster. Instead, Okotoks will find solace in a tight-checking, physical low-scoring style of hockey.
“Discipline is going to be really important,” Poole said. “We’ve only given up one powerplay goal against in the playoffs so if we can keep our penalty kill to the level where we’ve had it, it will be important and if we can get the better goaltending in the series it’s going to give us a really good chance.”
Brooks’ netminder Michael Fredrick is 4-1, with a 2.06 goals against average and sparkling save percentage of .926.
Okotoks goaltender Jared D’Amico was a major lynchpin in the second-round sweep. The Chestermere native boasts a remarkable 0.92 goals against average and scintillating .964 save percentage through seven playoff starts.
Despite their dominance in the past five contests, Okotoks will need to raise their game to another level in the South final.
“The fact we were able to get a little break is really important because if we would have kept playing the way we played against Olds and even Camrose that wouldn’t have been enough to beat Brooks,” Poole said. “Being able to rest and get the physical side of things back to 100 per cent is going to really big.”
The Oilers should ice their full complement of players as key blueliner Tariq Hammond, who has been sidelined since the first-round with an upper-body injury, is expected to return for Game 1 on Friday.
Brooks took the season series 4-2, however, the Oilers took the final two meetings this on home ice in February.
“We had some pretty good success at the end of the year against them so we don’t mind going up against them, despite their record,” Kryczka said. “We’re really confident with the way we’ve been playing. D’Amico’s been phenomenal, our defence has been really committed and we’re getting production from all lines.”
The South final starts with back-to-back games at the Brooks Centennial Arena on Friday and Saturday.
The series switches west to Okotoks for Game 3, Monday night at 7 p.m. at Pason Centennial Arena. Game 4 goes Wednesday night, 7 p.m. in Okotoks.
For full schedules and ticket information go to okotoksoilers.ca
