Okotoks ' Junior A hockey club boasts a perfect record through four exhibition games, but their performance on Sunday afternoon was far from unblemished.
The Okotoks Oilers overcame a lacklustre start and a three-goal deficit to defeat the Canmore Eagles 6-5 in overtime, Sept. 4 at Centennial Arena in their final exhibition game against an Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) opponent.
The Oilers had a sluggish first 40 minutes in which they were outscored 4-2 and outshot 20-16 by the visitors.
“ We ' re a very young team, they ' re still figuring out exactly what it ' s going to take to win in this league,” Oilers assistant coach Bobby Fox said. “ That game in the first couple periods we didn ' t battle hard enough, we were pretty soft actually.”
Okotoks turned things around in the final frame, with a physical period that saw the AJHL squad outscore its opponent 3-1.
“ We were playing a really physical game in the third period,” said Okotoks forward Jordan Clark. “ It got the guys going and all the lines were running, even the wingers were chipping the pucks out and hitting everything.”
Oilers defenceman Sasha Larocque said a speech from head coach James Poole got the team on track.
“ Poole just came into the room and told us what we need to do and we executed in the third,” said Larocque.
Although the team played much better in the third Fox said they can ' t play 20 minutes and expect to win during the regular season.
Okotoks is still carrying much of its roster from training camp and Poole dressed a young line-up against the Eagles with only six Oiler veterans suiting up.
The newcomers made quite an impression on Sunday.
Defenceman Troy Gedny, who plied his trade with Midget AAA Medicine Hat last season, scored a crucial goal on a point shot with just 18 seconds left in the second period to bring the Oilers within two goals of their South Division rivals.
Calgary Royals Midget AAA graduate Chris Hale tallied an all-important breakaway goal for Okotoks in the third stanza to make it 5-4 Canmore, wrestling momentum away from the Eagles who had scored just 23 seconds earlier.
The hero on the night was Clark who drove hard to the net and slotted the puck into the yawning cage just seconds into 3-on-3 overtime to give the Oilers the 6-5 victory.
“ I was just in the right place at the right time, driving to the net with a purpose,” said Clark who played for Cowichan Valley last season.
Oilers forwards Jon Turk and Houston Hazelaar and defenceman Jordan Swenson also tickled the twine for Okotoks.
The Oilers won their previous three exhibition tilts, beating the Eagles 5-2 in Canmore on Aug. 30, doubling up on the host Calgary Canucks 6-3 on Aug. 31 and returning home to trounce the Canucks 6-1 on Sept. 3.
Okotoks wraps up its exhibition season against the Mount Royal University Cougars, a team featuring Oilers alumni Jeff Barrett, Nick Bell, Matt Strong and Mike Brown, at 7:15 p.m. tonight at Centennial Arena.
The Oilers open their AJHL regular season at home on Saturday against the Canucks at 7 p.m.
