The little things added up to a big time collective performance and a spot in the South final.
The Okotoks Jr. B Bisons completed the four-game sweep of the High River Flyers in the Heritage Junior Hockey League South semifinal with a convincing 4-1 victory in Game 4 Friday night at the Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex to advance to the third round of the playoffs for the second time in three years.
"I thought everyone played 100 per cent their best game, every single game," said Bisons goaltender Devin Reagan. "I haven't seen our team play like this yet, it's pretty exciting.
"Other guys were putting the puck in the net, goal scorers were playing defence, it was good to see."
A textbook close out game saw Okotoks score one in the first period and add a pair in the middle frame along with an empty netter to close out the series in relatively comfortable fashion on Friday.
"We just played good positional D and kept to the middle of the ice and always made sure we took away sticks, took away the front of the net," said Bisons defenceman Bryan Weber. "We were line matching and making sure they didn't get any opportunities.
"I think we just stuck to our game all series, competed and always found that next level. I think everybody is just stepping up and everbody knows what kind of team we have here and they all just want to win. I think we just realized the kind of talent we have, we want to go far, we want to take this all the way so we just snapped in, flipped the switch and just gave it our all."
Reagan held back the Flyers with two shutouts and just two goals on 118 shots in the series, good for a .983 save percentage and 0.50 goals against average.
"I could have done a bit better playing the puck," Reagan said. "I didn't have to make that many big saves, every single game our team played so solid."
In Game 4, Austin O'Bray opened the scoring midway through the first period after Flyers netminder Davyn LaRocke did all he could to keep the visitors at bay.
Ryan Bedard added his fourth goal of the series in the middle stanza and HJHL scoring champion Tyson Scott notched his first goal of the series less than two minutes later. Scott added his second of the game with an empty netter in the late stages of regulation.
"I came out of the regular season pretty hot I thought and to be snake bitten a little bit at the start of the series, I would be lying if I said it doesn't get in your head sometimes," Scott said. "You've just got to do what you can do to fight that and you have to realize that the team is still having success.
"I wasn't scoring but we had other guys who were and when that's not really working in your game, you've got to find a way to contribute defensively or physically, making hits, blocking shots. And winning faceoffs has been a big part of my game here in the playoffs."
Bedard, a provincial champion in B.C. last season with the Revelstoke Grizzlies, is one of several players who've taken their games up a notch in the post-season with a goal in each game of the playoffs to date.
"Me and Ryan have been best friends for a lot of years growing up, going to high school together and it's really good to see his offensive game blossom here in the last couple weeks," Scott said. "He's a really good guy, I'm proud to call him one of my good buddies and hopefully he manages to keep it up for us. He's been huge for us so far."
Okotoks, the first-seed in the HJHL with a 35-2-1 record in the regular season, now awaits the winner of the other South semifinal series featuring the Cochrane Generals and Medicine Hat Cubs. The provincial host Cubs lead the series by a 3-1 count.
"The playoffs are a totally different element than the regular season and when you have a record that's as strong as ours, sometimes it's hard not to get comfortable or tentative with the small details," Scott said. "But the guys in our dressing room are really good and they know when it's playoffs, it's time to bear down and we've got to rock-n-roll here, everybody is sharp, communication is a big thing for us on the ice lately.
"And Devin Reagan has been a huge backbone for us all series long."
For more information go to okotoksbisons.com
