The Okotoks Oilers took two points from a possible six in a challenging road trip which saw the Alberta Junior Hockey League team face off with the three of the top four teams in the South Division.
Okotoks dropped its first road contest of the season 5-1 to the Calgary Mustangs on Sept. 18; went into a hornet’s nest in Camrose on Sept. 20 and defeated the Kodiaks 2-1 in a shootout; and closed the excursion with an 8-6 loss to the Brooks Bandits, the defending league champions, on Sept. 22.
“It’s a process and we’re trying to create an identity as a hard-working hockey team,” said Oiler head coach James Poole. “And that’s ultimately where it’s still a work in progress for us. Our work habits and commitment at both ends of the rink were very inconsistent over the three games.”
In their first meeting of the season against the Mustangs, a team the Oilers struggled to overcome in the first half of 2011-12, a hat trick from sniper Chase McMurphy buoyed Calgary to the four-goal victory. Rookie Mitch Amatto scored a late consolation marker for his first with the Oilers.
“We came out flat and had too many mental errors that led to breakdowns,” said Oilers defenceman Jordan Swenson. “And we kind of hung (goalie Jared) D’Amico out to dry a few times.”
Once the road trip shifted north to Camrose, the Oilers found their game.
“Everyone competed and worked hard for the full 60 and that was a good character win to stick with it when they tied it up there,” Swenson said.
Tanner Olstad scored unassisted, his first since re-joining the Oilers, in the second period before Kodiak Nelson Gadoury tied the game with two minutes left, sending it to a shootout. The Oilers were perfect in the silly session as Robert Hamilton, Olstad and Chris Collins all beat Matthew Gibney
The road trip saw a number of new Oilers reach early milestones in their career. Rookie netminder Devin Green picked up his first win at the Junior A level, by stopping 36 shots and one of two Kodiak shooters in the shootout victory.
“To go into Camrose and play the way he did and get that first win there that’s definitely something to be said for doing that,” Poole said. “We have a lot of confidence that he’s going to be a good goaltender for us this year and in the future.”
The two-goal loss to Brooks saw Cody Michelle net his first as an Oiler and Chris Collins get his first two tallies, both on the powerplay, since joining the organization from the Saskatoon Blades.
Okotoks entered the contest with Brooks with a woeful five per-cent efficiency on the man advantage, but broke out of its offensive shell with a three-for five powerplay performance against the Bandits.
“We worked on a few different plays during the week and we’ve just been building that chemistry,” said Swenson, who leads the team with six points. “We’ve had so many new faces come in and changes to lines so it was nice to finally get some consistency with guys you’re playing with.”
The Oilers hosted the Canmore Eagles on Sept. 25, but results were too late for press time. Okotoks heads to Spruce Grove this weekend for the annual AJHL showcase, featuring all of the league’s teams in the marquee scouting weekend of the season. The Oilers play the Lloydminster Bobcats on Sept. 28 and the Fort McMurray Oil Barons on Sept. 29.
For more information go to www.okotoksoilers.ca.
