Fall can’t come soon enough for the Okotoks Junior A Oilers.
Still feeling the burn of agonizingly missing out on making the franchise’s first trip to the Alberta Junior Hockey League final, the Oilers are already planning for a return trip to the postseason dance next season.
“We were very close to having a championship type year and the biggest thing for the guys coming back is learning what it takes to be successful,” said Oilers head coach James Poole. “Sometimes they say you have to lose first before you can learn how to win and hopefully we can draw upon that and next year it will make us a better team.”
Co-captain Robbie Fisher said the experience of going on a deep playoff run in two series that went the distance will be invaluable going forward.
“Going seven games against Brooks, who was ranked number one all year, is a great experience to have,” said Fisher. “To get that feeling for what it takes to win in the playoffs, that’s the best thing we can take from it.”
Okotoks will be poised for a strong season as the team will have a familiar look next season.
No fewer than 15 players are expected to return to the lineup, including stud netminder Jared D’Amico and phenomenal rookie sniper John Edwardh.
“I think it’s going to be a really bright future here,” said defenceman Jordan Swenson. “With all those guys maturing a little more I think it’s going to be a great season next year as well.”
Swenson and fellow 19-year-old Tariq Hammond should anchor a deep back end for Okotoks next season along with the promising rookie trio of Stefan Danielson, Drew Weich and Kyle Krabben.
“We will have a really strong defence corps,” Swenson said. “With the 17-year-olds with another year under their belt and Hammond and myself back there.
“And it’s not often you get a starting goalie as good as D’Amico that comes back again so that’s going to be a huge help for us.”
Fisher, second on the Oilers with 27 goals and 46 points this season, headlines a strong group of nine incumbents in the forward corps.
“The core is still here so we can look to another great year of Oiler hockey,” Fisher said. “We have Connor Hartley coming back, there’s Eddy (Edwardh), Spencer Kryczka, there’s a lot of guys coming back that are going to have big years.”
Edwardh, in particular, appears poised for a breakout campaign.
The Calgary native was a man-possessed during the playoffs, registering 13 goals and six game winners en route to being named the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) national first star for the month of March.
Despite successful seasons from Western Hockey League (WHL) alumni Chris Collins, Tanner Olstad and Keith Hamilton, all of whom have now graduated from the Okotoks program, the Oilers don’t expect to go the WHL route in acquiring talent for next season.
“We really want to give the opportunity for young players to jump up and take those roles,” Poole said. “It’s not going to be a seamless transition. It’s going to have some ups and downs, but I think they have the talent level.”
Following a postseason run in which the buzz in town was palpable – from three sell-outs during the semifinal series with Brooks, to away games being shown at Rylie’s Cattle Barn – the Oilers’ returnees are optimistic the community will remain behind them.
“We had tremendous support from the community this year, especially in the playoffs; it was fantastic at home,” Swenson said. “We know we’ll have a good team and are going to do good things so as long as everyone stays interested and still wants to be a part of it then we’re more than happy to have them come out to the games.”
Fisher said the Oilers look forward to feeding off the energy of the enthusiastic fan base and the loyal Green Army.
“They’re the sixth guy out there for us and they give us a shot of adrenaline, especially the army, they’re always going,” Fisher said. “It made us that much better knowing the town was behind us.
“Hopefully we can get that going again next year. It made a huge difference for us.”
