The Green in Gold are back in the win column after an offensive outburst to close its first week back.
The Okotoks Oilers (4-1-0) scored five first period goals to vault past the Calgary Canucks 6-4 on March 14 in the Stampede City less than 24 hours removed from a 5-1 defeat on home ice to the Brooks Bandits in the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s opening weekend of its return to play.
“We got a really quick start just getting pucks on net and finishing on our opportunities,” said Oilers forward Jaevon Buschlen. “Throughout the game we let off and were a little bit slower on our boots towards the end. We took a few too many penalties which led to those (Canucks) goals, but we kept on it and got the W.
“We hadn’t been on the ice for a while so we just wanted to keep it simple and get that first win out of the way.”
Brandon Machado opened the scoring on the powerplay, Brayden Morrison doubled the lead at even-strength, rookie Cale Sanders added his first Junior goal a minute later and fellow freshman forwards Rieger Lorenz and Bowden Singleton scored in the final minute of a dominant middle frame.
Calgary chipped away at the deficit with three unanswered third-period goals before Sanders, a Claresholm product, added his second of the night in the final five minutes.
Parker Sawka made 27 saves for his second win of the season.
In the return to play opener Okotoks dropped its first game of the regular season, dating back to its delayed start in November, in a combative 5-1 loss at Pason Centennial Arena.
Carson Dyck, who will wear the C as the team’s captain for the duration of the season, notched the only Oilers tally while shorthanded.
The Bandits were otherwise advantageous on the man-advantage with a pair of powerplay markers. Ryan McAllister, Taylor Makar, Devin Phillips, Brendan Mairs and highly touted draft-eligible defenceman Corson Ceulemans scored for the visitors.
It was a spirited return in terms of animosity with both teams combining for 74 penalty minutes including four major penalties handed out in the middle frame alone.
“It was a quick fast-paced game at the start,” Buschlen said. “I think it was just little system breakdowns towards the end of the game. It was a really rough game too, we were a little bit short on forwards.
“First game so we were getting our legs back into it.”
The South Division showdown was four months in the making with the AJHL on pause since November and limited practices over the past week leading right back into game action.
“It was really nice actually to get back into that schedule of preparing for a game,” Buschlen added. “The emotions were high, everyone was really excited to get back out there.
“This start up we had only had about a week and a half to get back into it so it was a tough (week) of practices, but I’m glad we got those in to get back into game shape and just that overall excitement to be back is really good.”
Second-year forward Blake Jacques echoed the sentiment, adding this opening weekend of the return to action was about getting their collective boots under them.
“It was a great experience. We obviously waited a long time to finally get on the ice,” said Jacques. “Even just practising with all the boys, it’s really fun getting to the rink again.
“It was very emotional as we’ve been waiting for so long, we just had so much stuff built up, all the workouts and practices we’ve been getting into. We were trying to keep it simple because we knew we were going to mess up, but we came out strong.
“Didn’t get the result we wanted, but we’ll be back at them next weekend.”
For the forward group, opportunities for ice time are there with minute-munching centres Jack Works and Louis Jamernik having moved on to the NCAA earlier this winter, leaving big holes to fill up-front.
“We lost big parts of our team with Jamernik and Works, but we’re filling those roles accordingly and we’ll be fine,” added Jacques, who calls Winnipeg home. “That opportunity, us guys are making the most of it, the best they can because we are going to have to fill those roles to get back where we were.”
This weekend Okotoks is home to Calgary on March 19 and is set for a March 20 showdown with the Bandits in Brooks. The Oilers are then in Calgary on March 26 with the Green and Gold’s following home date on March 28 versus Brooks.
The return to play schedule has the teams playing exclusively on weekends with weekdays dedicated to practices. Okotoks’ first games of the return to play are within its three-team cohort with Calgary and Brooks.
“It’s really nice having those practices all week and it’s really good for individual, skill-wise each guy getting better,” Buschlen said. “And really working on our systems as a team and just continuing to be focused on making good plays, I think that’s we’re mainly focused on for practices.”
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