Okotoks Oilers hockey will begin in earnest next week.
The Alberta Junior Hockey League team will begin its development season on Aug. 31 with the provincial loop announcing earlier this month the regular season for the 15-team league has been postponed amid regulations around the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re going to start up on Aug. 31, it’s 90 per cent that we’re going to start there and bring the guys in, the carded players in and then we kind of wait and see,” said Oilers head coach and GM Tyler Deis on Aug. 24. “It’s going to be more of a development component here for the first little bit until the Province figures out when we can move into the next phase.”
Okotoks will have just under 25 players to start the development season, Deis said.
Though the Oilers brass tends to have a smaller main camp with a good read on prospects, this year’s unique circumstances only adds to that equation.
“It takes the opportunity out of other guys for maybe the future and the experience,” the coach said. “It definitely does have that piece to it, but the times are a little bit different so we have to be able to adapt to that.”
One other change for the time being is the billeting situation.
Unlike past years, players from Calgary and area will stay at home and not billet in the community. That will be reserved for players coming from distance.
“So we’ve got some that are going to be in the billet situation,” Deis said. “But mostly our surrounding area guys will be staying at home right now, which is a big piece of it.”
Okotoks has added a number of promising prospects to the squad, names that are familiar to hardcore fans of the green and gold as past affiliate players.
The new crop is comprised of a strong forward group including a pair of 2004-born skaters in Denver Pioneers commit Rieger Lorenz and North Dakota commit Bowden Singleton, as well as Beaverlodge’s Nolan Flint, Calgary Northstars ace Dean Spak along with smooth skating defenceman Logan Magowan from the Buffaloes program.
“With all the new guys coming in we’re excited about them,” he said. “It’s huge for this year for us and for the future of the program.”
The defence should feature a number of incumbents in Tucker McRae, Tanner Sawka, Seth Bernard-Docker and Eric Parker.
Up front, Okotoks is returning most of its group from last season led by franchise single season points and goals record holder Jack Works, captain Louis Jamernik, Okotokians Gibb Coady and Jaevon Buschlen as well as the likes of Carson Dyck, Brayden Morrison, Dylan James, Brett Moravec, Blake Jacques, Brandon Machado and Michael Hagen.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good group on and off the ice,” Deis said. “I think there’s a huge possibility to do what the teams in the past have done and have good years and good playoff runs.”
Though ice-time was initially challenging at the outset of the pandemic, the players have largely been doing the work in the off-season to come into 2020-21 without being a step behind.
“I think everybody has done exactly what they’ve done in the past, I don’t think it’s changed too much,” the coach added. “I think they’ve all got ready for the season and we’ve just got to wait to see when we can actually start playing games.”
