If anything a two-game sweep of the High River Flyers in exhibition play last weekend proved cracking the Okotoks Bisons’ roster will be a trying feat for the rookies in camp.
Okotoks swept a home-and-home set with the rival Flyers winning 3-2 in High River Friday and 5-2 in Okotoks on Saturday to kick-off the Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL) exhibition schedule. The Bisons also managed a 7-7 tie in Strathmore on Sunday.
For many teams, including High River, the exhibition season is an opportunity to assess the rookies and inject some new blood into the line-up.
That is not the case for the Bisons as they will be defending their HJHL title with much the same line-up as they iced in 2010-2011 which is just fine with the team’s coaching staff.
“There are only a handful of spots up for grabs,” said Bisons’ assistant coach Rory Hennigan. “It is one of the best problems you can have. We have some tough decisions to make and that is a good thing.”
The Bisons’ blueline could be back intact as Dylan Griep, Michael Savage, Peter Soroka, Lane Wagner, Keaton Lackten and Matt Howatt are all back this season.
In addition, the top three lines could be set as nine forwards are back in camp including Aaron Elashuck, Eddy Tracy, Ty Fehr, Brett MacDonald, Chase Fallis, Mike McMurdo, Jesse Lyall, Jeremy Smith, and Phil Dillon who the Bisons coaching staff is hoping will fill the void left by the departure of Derek Schlamp.
Schlamp was the Bisons’ MVP last season leading the team in scoring with 25 goals and 61 points in 35 games.
However, Dillon had a breakout performance in the playoffs with 13 goals and 21 points in just 15 games as the Bisons roared to their 10th league banner. To put his playoff performance in perspective, Dillon had 18 goals and 30 points in 35 games in the regular season and almost matched those totals in the post-season.
Hennigan said Dillon’s playoff performance had more to do with confidence for the rookie forward.
“He got some confidence and he found his stride in the playoffs,” said Hennigan. “He was a special player for us in the playoffs.”
With a season of Junior B hockey under his belt, Hennigan said he hopes Dillon can carry the momentum from last year’s playoffs into the 2011-2012 regular season.
If Dillon and the Bisons can pick up where they left off last season they could be a formidable force this campaign.
The Bisons finished atop the South Division last season with a 25-11 record, but with a relatively new roster they got off to a slow start. Once the team meshed in the second half of the season the Bisons went on a roll and their hot streak lasted until the provincial championships where they went winless.
Hennigan said the team simply needed to learn how to win.
“We had a lot of guys from losing programs and with the Bisons they got a taste of winning,” said Hennigan. “Last year we really didn’t know what we had in training camp, there were so many unknowns. There were quite a few diamonds in the rough though and they really came together.”
This year the Bisons are a known commodity and Hennigan said he expects the club to be hitting on all cylinders coming out of training camp.
“We don’t so much expect a fast start because there will still be some mistakes, but we don’t want to see them making the same mistakes,” he said. “But we do expect this team to come out with some confidence.”
Okotoks’ final exhibition game is Friday, Sept. 16 against the Strathmore Wheatland Kings at 7:45 p.m. at the Murray Arena.
The Bisons drop the puck on the regular season on Sept 18 against the Banff Academy Bears at 1:15 p.m. at the Murray Arena.
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