What’s old is new again for an Okotoks Junior A Oiler veteran.
Scott Bolland has caught fire since being switched from forward to his natural position of defence and his solid play has turned what was to be a temporary measure into a permanent switch.
“I feel like I’m back to my normal position and taking pride in how I play and just focus on each shift in each game,” Bolland said. “On the defensive end you have to think a lot more so I’m just trying to take pride in that.”
Bolland, who played on the blueline until his second year of Midget with the Notre Dame Hounds, said being a defenceman allows for easier access to his best attributes — a quick release and devastatingly heavy slap-shot.
“Coaches always say my best asset is my shot and I seem to be getting it off a lot more,” Bolland said. “I have time so if there’s traffic in front of the net and it makes it easier for a defenceman to hit the net. Sometimes there’s a good bounce and it goes in.”
The puck has been going in for the defenceman at a torrent clip.
The Osoyoos, B.C. native has registered eight goals in 14 games on defence and recently had a five-game goal streak snapped.
Being paired alongside Robert Hamilton, owner of a scholarship to the University of Vermont as the Oilers’ most-gifted offensive defenceman, certainly hasn’t hurt those totals.
“We seem to be feeding well off each other,” Bolland said of his defence partner. “We’re both similar in that sense where we both like to be offensive and if he’s jumping up I’m staying back and vice versa.”
Bolland played spot-duty on defence during a promising rookie season of 2010-11 in which he registered 18 points in 33 games and was named the Oilers’ unsung hero.
The five-foot-10, 178-pounder then asked to be traded by the Oilers after his rookie season of 2010-11 to tend to family issues in British Columbia.
He was welcomed back to the Okotoks dressing room with open-arms last November, but wasn’t able to recapture his rookie form in a shortened sophomore year. Bolland was held to seven points in 26 games last season. “The summer I had and the season I had was kind of similar,” Bolland said. “It was rough and didn’t go my way. This year I just re-focused, put it all behind me and came back.”
“It’s a fresh start (this year) it’s similar to my rookie year. I wanted to come in here and play as best as I could as a 20-year-old and earn a spot.”
A rash of injuries again hit the Okotoks defence corps in November, including long-term ailments to top defencemen Jordan Swenson and Tariq Hammond, leading to Bolland’s number 19 being called for a second stint on defence.
“It really seemed to spark his game and spark his season,” said Oiler head coach James Poole. “It’s something that we want to stick with because he’s got a lot of promise. He’s done some good things now, but I think he’s even got potential to be even better.”
The Oilers coach said Bolland has a natural ability to read the play and has the composure to intuitively know when to spring his teammates in transition or to lead the rush himself.
“There’s still some parts of the game defensively that he needs to work on a bit, but he’s got the right attitude, he’s enjoying it and he’s been a good spark to our powerplay.”
Bolland’s season trajectory, from sub-par out of the gate to thriving of late, is typical of the 20-year-old who is undoubtedly a more effective player in big-game situations.
“I’ve gotten better as the season has gone on and that’s usually how it goes,” he said. “When the game is on the line and all the pressure is on us I love that.”
Bolland, a back-to-back national Midget AAA champion with the Hounds in 2009 and as the team captain in 2010, is eager to add to a Junior trophy to his mantle place in his last season of eligibility.
“It would be very nice,” he said. “We have a tough road, but I think the guys in the dressing room, the coaching staff, the group we have is coming along well and I think it’s a possibility.
“It’s all of our number-one goals because there are numerous guys here who won at the Midget level, whether it’s the Telus or the Mac’s, and we definitely want to do it again.”
