The injury bug took a bite out of the Okotoks Oilers on the weekend.
On the heels of a four-game winning streak, Okotoks (7-5-0) dropped a pair of home games on consecutive nights to the Drumheller Dragons and Camrose Kodiaks, skating with just 10 forwards in the latter match with five forwards and one defenceman out of the lineup.
“It’s been super tiring, but somehow we’ve just got to find a way to push through,” said Oilers rookie forward Brody Spencer-Ha, from Foothills County. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do it this week, but hopefully with a week of practice we can get back on our feet.”
The Kodiaks outlasted the Oilers 3-2 in the weekend finale, Oct. 16 at Pason Centennial Arena.
The Oilers were missing a number of veterans with defenceman Riley Bodnarchuk, forwards Brendan Boyle, Carter Massier and Ethan Jamernik out of the lineup along with young centres Austin Reschny and Brett Huxley.
“We’ve just got to grind it out and play our game, be smart on our changes and have smart shifts,” said Oilers second-year forward Nolan Flint. “We played pretty well (against Camrose), we just didn’t have very good starts and that’s what killed us, but I thought we deserved better.”
The Kodiaks got the early jump, somewhat against the run of play, in the first period with Michael Lovsin scoring twice in the frame.
Okotoks charged back in the middle stanza with a pair of tallies from its depleted forward ranks.
Affiliate player Jagger Tapper notched his first AJHL goal midway through the period with a low wrist shot off a feed from linemate Dean Spak.
“We just kept believing, we thought we laid it on them pretty good at (even-strength) in the first and just had to keep going,” Flint added. “Once we got that first one by them, we knew we could go.”
Flint, from Beaverlodge, evened the score less than three minutes later when he took a pass from Samuel Huck in front of goal and outwitted Kodiaks netminder Logan Wilcott before lifting a backhander into the corner of the net.
“We had a good low-cycle,” Flint said. “And (Layne) Loomer got it up to Huck and he fed me a nice pass down low and just pulled it to my backhand.”
The Kodiaks added the only third-period marker on a seeing-eye point shot from defenceman Graydon Gotaas for what proved to be the game-winner.
Okotoks got off to a rocky start to the weekend with a 6-1 defeat to the visiting Drumheller Dragons on Oct. 15.
Dragons forwards Sam Simard, an Okotokian, and Carter Belitski paced the offence with two goals each.
Spencer-Ha got some late-game consolation for the hosts with his first AJHL goal on a shorthanded breakaway beauty late in the second period.
“That felt amazing, it took a little bit, took 10 games to get it so it was a little bit of a grind, but once I got it, that was the best feeling in the world,” Spencer-Ha said. “That was a weight lifted off my shoulders.”
The fleet-footed forward, one of five rookies up-front, said he’s getting more and more used to the flow of AJHL hockey as the team hits the dozen game mark.
“At the beginning of the season I was a little bit nervous,” he said. “But as time as gone on I’ve gotten more comfortable and comfortable during the games and have been getting a little more ice-time each and every game which is awesome.
“I’m just going to keep pushing through.”
The Oilers continue their homestead this week with a pair of North Division foes making the trek south. The Lloydminster Bobcats are in town on Oct. 22 followed by a visit from the Whitecourt Wolverines on Oct. 23.
Both games are 7 p.m. starts at Pason Centennial Arena.
For more information go to okotoksoilers.ca.
