When it comes to finding wins during a road trip to the north of the province two out of three ain’t bad.
The Okotoks Junior A Oilers didn’t use three games in three days as an excuse on the weekend as they took four of six points on a taxing swing through the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s North Division.
“Going into the weekend we were already a tired hockey team with some injuries,” said Oilers head coach James Poole. “In the second and third games, although we weren’t at our best, I thought we showed a lot of character in finding ways to get two points in both games.”
Okotoks had a disastrous start to the road trip on Friday by losing 5-0 to the first-place Spruce Grove Saints.
“We got off to a bit of a rough start in the Spruce Grove game with a lot of mistakes they made us pay for on the defensive side of things,” Poole said.
The team bounced back with a 4-3 overtime win over the Lloydminster Bobcats on Saturday. Greg Lamoureux, Scott Bolland and Colton Sheen scored in regulation for Okotoks to set the stage for Chris Collin’s overtime winner.
“It was a shot from the point and I tipped it and then picked up the rebound, it was nothing too fancy,” Collins said. “I enjoy playing in situations when one play can make the difference and James has been giving me opportunities.”
See Oilers on page 6
The Oilers followed up the overtime triumph and outlasted the Sherwood Park Crusaders 2-1 in a shootout on Sunday. A tired Okotoks team was out-shot 42-25 by Sherwood Park who were stymied by Keith Hamilton in goal.
“It’s an important win, it shows that when we’re not at our best we can find a way to win a game,” Poole said. “We were definitely a tired hockey team playing our ninth game in 17 days and going against a team that had not played since Wednesday.”
The two victories in the extra time improved the Oilers’ mark to 6-2 this season in shootout and overtime situations.
“Anytime it goes to overtime and shootouts there’s going to be some luck involved,” Poole said. “In terms of three-on-three overtime we do simulate those situations a little bit in practice and guys seem to be able to adjust to that quite well.”
The two-win weekend gave the second-place Oilers (15-9-2) a much-needed cushion of six points on the third-place Camrose Kodiaks. With the Brooks Bandits finally dropping their first game of the season in Grande Prairie, the Oilers are gaining ground with 10 points now separating the two clubs.
“It’s nice that they lost one finally,” Collins said. “But we’re not too worried about them at the moment. If we keep playing our game I know we will eventually get pretty close to them.”
The Oilers can do their pursuit of first-place a world of good before the Christmas holiday as 10 of their next 11 tilts are against divisional rivals, including three with the aforementioned Bandits.
“It’s an important stretch for us,” Poole said. “We gained some ground in terms of separating ourselves in first place and we want to continue that.”
Okotoks hosts the seventh-place Drumheller Dragons on Friday, 7 p.m. at Pason Centennial Arena, and travel east to Brooks for a meeting with the top dogs in the league on Saturday.
For full schedules and results go to www.okotoksoilers.ca.
Oilers add forward
The Okotoks Oilers addressed an age-group shortage last week. Okotoks acquired 18–year-old forward Sam Plaquin from the Bonnyville Pontiacs in exchange for future considerations.
“In terms of how we balances our depth chart he made a lot of sense to us,” Poole said. “He’s a (1994 born) player which we didn’t have a lot at that birth year ... He’s a player that we think can help us this year and in the future.”
The Oilers coach said Plaquin’s versatility should allow for a seamless transition up-front.
“He fits the mold, he’s a hard working kid that’s got a good skill level and the nice point is he’s got some size to him too,” Poole said of the six-foot-one, 175 pound forward.
Plaquin, a Calgary native, was recruited heavily by the Oilers as well as the Spruce Grove Saints and Bonnyville last season. He said he’s eager for a change of scenery in a place he was close to signing with last year.
“My coach told me I was going to end up somewhere between B.C. and Manitoba,” said Plaquin, who asked Bonnyville to move him. “I wasn’t having fun playing hockey anymore and needed a change to see if I could spark myself again.”
The Calgary Midget AAA Northstars alumnus said it’s far too early to know where his role on the team will fall this season, however, he envisions eventual top-six duty.
“I earn the coaches trust just by making consistent plays and I don’t falter too much so it’s easy for them to put me out there,” said Plaquin, who picked up three points in 14 games for the Pontiacs. “That’s where I’d like to end up but wherever I play I’m happy.”
