With three games left in the regular season, and first place in the South Division, the Okotoks Oilers entered Canmore last night for a match with the Eagles. With Canmore, Brooks, and the Canucks all competing for the 4th seed in the South, the Oilers knew they would have to putout a solid effort to top them at home.
The Oilers would come out of the gate flying, scoring the first 4 goals of the game in a span of 3 minutes with goals from Cody Dion (Brandon Hoogenboom, John McInnis), Nolan Huysmans (Ben Gamache, Chris Korpach), Jeff Barrett (Chris Duszynski, Derek Rodwell), and an unassisted goal from John McInnis. The Oilers would keep the lead going into the 2nd period.
With such a flurry of offense from Okotoks, some sort of retaliation was inevitable from the Eagles, whether on the score board or in the penalty box. With no scoring coming out of the Eagles bench, Oilers Quinn Sproule dropped the mitts with Lee Remier of Canmore and showed the Eagles that they would not be intimidated.
Chris Dusynski put some extra salt in the wound in the 3rd period, scoring a goal assisted by Brad Ryan and Jordan Principalli. Sean Cahill stood tall in net for the Oilers, stopping all 18 shots faced by the Eagles, with much credit going to the Oilers defense for keeping the shot count low.
All in all, it was a great 5-0 win for the Oilers, and for the first time in the Oilers brief 5 year history, they have clinched 1st place in the South Division, granting themselves a bye for the first round of playoffs.
With two home games left in the regular season this weekend, the Oilers will look to build momentum as they begin the AJHL post season. Don’t miss this weekend’s matches, Friday night at 7pm vs. the Calgary Canucks, and Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm vs. the Drumheller Dragons.
*Game Notes – Scratches for the Oilers Thursday night were James Bannister, Brett Adnum, and Kyle Reynolds.
Stay tuned to www.okotoksoilers.com for all the latest news on the Okotoks Oilers!