It was an up-and-down weekend for the Okotoks Oilers in what was their AJHL regular season home debut.
And it will be up to the Oilers veterans to ensure the young team keeps an even keel in what may be an up-and-down season.
“I have to try and help out and not let the younger guys get too low on the lows and not too high on the highs,” said Oilers 20-year-old forward Brendan Boyle after the Oilers’ 5-3 loss to the Drumheller Dragons, Sept. 25 at the Pason Arena. “Try to balance the emotions. I have been through the roller-coaster of the emotions with being in Prince George (Cougars of the Western Hockey League) for three years.”
The Oilers had a weekend to rival a ride on Disneyland’s Matterhorn.
Okotoks had a wild comeback in their 7-4 victory in its regular season home opener against the Canmore Eagles in front of 680 fans Friday night at the Pason.
“I thought we had a really good first period – their goalie (the Eagles’ Andreai Proctor-Ramirez) played really well, he was tough to crack,” Boyle said. “The second period didn’t go our way, but we came back in the third period and got a gritty win.”
It was True Grit, as the Duke would say.
The Oilers were down 4-2 after 40 minutes, but in the final period they lit up the red light like a five-year-old playing Operation. Okotoks scored five consecutive goals in the third for the 7-4 victory.
Oiler rookie Conyr Hellyer got the ball rolling with a powerplay goal 37 seconds into the final period to put Okotoks within one goal.
The powerplay was fully charged for the Oil.
Okotoks' Rieger Lorenz tied the game at 4-4 with a powerplay goal a bit more than a minute later.
Hellyer was back at it — he put the Oilers up 5-4 on yet another powerplay goal to put the Oil up for good at 5-4.
Boyle’s linemates happen to be Lorenz and Hellyer.
“I have two young talented guys I play with on my line,” Boyle said. “Hellyer is super-talented and controls the puck really well, he’s a hound on the puck on the forecheck.
“Same with Rieger. I am just a calming influence just trying to help in any way I can.”
The Oilers hit 80 per cent on the powerplay, scoring on four of their five chances.
Okotoks rounded out the scoring with Dean Spak potting a goal and Lorenz putting one into the empty net for the 7-4 victory.
The Oilers opened the scoring on a shorthanded effort by Bowden Singleton to give Okotoks a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Rookie winger Sam Huck scored his first goal of the season in the second period.
Oilers goalie Parker Sawka picked up the win. He faced 24 shots – 13 of them in the second stanza.
“It wasn’t a great start, I have to be ready for all the chances,” Sawka said. “But we battled back in the third... It’s about focusing on the next shot and forgetting about the ones you let in.
“Just worry about getting the W. It was a great comeback win. And it was great to show the fans that we care and are hard-working, especially because we are such a young team.”
That same young team was knocked on its heels in the first two periods of their 5-3 loss to the Dragons on Sept. 25.
“Off the hub, they really took it to us,” said Oilers captain Tucker McRae. “They are a good team, a little bit of age on us, a little bit more mature.
“There are things we still have to work on in our d-zone and stuff like that. These young guys will figure out what our systems are like and we will able to dial in from there.”
The Dragons jumped out to a 4-0 lead, with the fourth goal scored by Foothills Comp grad Sam Simard, early in the third period.
Scoring for the Oilers in the loss were Hellyer, Ben Johnson and Boyle.
First-year Oiler Austin Zavoda took the loss. He turned in a solid effort fighting off the Dragons’ buzzsaw-like offence in stopping 22 of 27 shots.
The 2-2 Oilers are in Brooks with all of the 16 teams in the league for the AJHL showcase. The showcase allows scouts from colleges and universities to go to one community and see all the talent the AJHL has to offer.
They will play the 2-3 Sherwood Park Crusaders on Sept. 30, then take on the feisty Whitecourt Wolverines in Brooks.
They return home to the Pason on Oct. 9 when the Oilers host the Dragons again.
