A shutout three years in the making paced a Bisons weekend to remember.
Layton Draper made 20 saves to record his first shutout with the Okotoks Bisons in the team’s 6-0 romp over the Coaldale Copperheads on Oct. 1 at the Murray Arena to spark a three-win weekend for the Heritage Junior Hockey League squad.
“That felt good, first one in three years and first Junior B one too,” said Draper following the shutout performance. “We played a full 60, kept the puck away from the middle of the ice with no hard shots, the (team defence) did really well.”
Draper, an 18-year-old from Ontario, has yet to taste defeat in Bisons colours with six wins in six starts.
The Oct. 1 clash was characterized by strong team defence from Okotoks with an extended 5-on-3 powerplay in the middle frame the closest the visitors came to breaking the duck.
“In the second period where we got into a bit of penalty trouble there, he made some big saves there,” said Bisons head coach Brad Cobb. “Those are momentum turners, one way or another there so that helped us keep on that momentum building.
“He’s done a great job, he’s a young goalie that’s come in and is just getting better every week and he wants to get better, which is half the battle. He’s in there and been steady for us and we’re very confident with him.”
Draper was part of the Okotoks team in 2020-21 as the third goalie in a season that was limited to just a handful of exhibition and regular season contests.
He wanted to make sure the long off-season was going to have a payoff in 2021-22.
“I just wanted to have a good solid year. With COVID and everything (going on), I just want to get back into it and try to make it to the next level,” Draper said.
“It felt good to make to finally make the team as a number-one goalie, I’ve worked hard to go out there and show them what I’ve got.”
Okotoks jumped out to a 3-0 lead with Andrew Bonham, Alaister Standen and Adam Kirkpatrick tickling the twins in the opening frame.
“We knew they were going to be a hard team to come out and play against and we really just had to take it right off the hop,” said Bonham, an alternate captain. “We got the offence going quick and that really helped us tonight.”
In the second period, Simon Smith-Burness tallied on the rush, captain Evan Woods netted on a shorthanded breakaway and AJ Belanger repeated the feat on the penalty kill in the final stanza to round out the scoring.
“It was a very good team game, I thought every line was going well, every player was going well today,” said Cobb. “That’s the difference, when you’re skating and all 20 guys are going we’re going to be tough to beat.”
Since suffering a rare loss on home ice at the hands of the Cochrane Generals in mid-September, the Bisons have since rattled off five straight wins to take a firm grip on first in the Southern Division.
For the head coach, the improved fortunes have a lot to do with availability.
“We’ve had a full lineup, with our back-end we’ve got six guys back, when we lost to Cochrane we had some forwards playing defence,” the coach added. “We’ve got 20 good players in our fold right now and when our full lineup is in, we’re going to be a tough team.”
Adding to the team’s considerable depth have been a pair of additions in Kirkpatrick and smooth-skating defenceman Kegan Law.
“It’s going to make us even stronger,” said Bonham. “Both of them are great additions, they’ve already produced.”
Okotoks made it four straight wins and two in as many nights by usurping the Strathmore Wheatland Kings 5-2, Oct. 2 on the road.
Centre Austin O’Bray paced the offence with a two goal, three-point effort while Woods chipped in with a pair of assists. Smith-Burness, Standen and Travis Thorhaug also tallied for the visitors. Draper made 29 saves on 31 shots.
The Bisons completed the weekend trifecta by knocking off the expansion Kainai Braces by an 8-1 count, Oct. 3 at the Murray Arena, in the first ever meeting between the clubs.
Rookie forward Cody Steinert notched a hat-trick with Belanger, Bonham, Kirkpatrick, Woods and Thorhaug also lighting the lamp.
Draper made 29 saves on 30 shots to improve to 6-0 with a sparkling .945 save percentage.
“There’s a lot of good chemistry, the more guys play with each other,” Bonham said. “The better we are and it’s nice to see. We keep getting better every game. It’s a really nice flow that we have going in the room and on the ice.
“And I think we’re going to keep building from here.”
Okotoks (6-1-0) is on the road this week for its second battle of the Foothills with an Oct. 8 stop in High River to battle the Flyers. The next home game is Oct. 15 versus Medicine Hat.
For more information go to okotoksbisons.com.
