Written by: Scott Savard
Headline photo: Chad Goddard
Okotoks, AB (January 23, 2026) – The BCHL All-Star weekend in Spruce Grove has come and gone, with the Okotoks Oilers set to host the Saints for the third time during the 2025-2026 BCHL season at Viking Rentals Centre (VRC) tonight.
The two Interior East Division rivals currently have two wins apiece during their season series, but the Oilers have come away with five points, as their first loss against the Saints came in an 11-round shootout back on October 25, 2025. The scoring has been dead even with both teams potting 14 goals each during the season series.
The Green and Gold didn’t get off to the start they wanted after the BCHL holiday break, but two players who did impress during the four-game stint were Brady Engelkes (Middleton, WI), as he posted three goals in four games, as well as captain Brett Willson, who came away with five points (2G, 3A) in that span.
“I think I have been getting it on the net more. My line’s been doing pretty well, too. But, yeah, just trying to find the weak areas around the net more,” Engelkes said about his hot hands.
When it comes to adding more wins as a group, Engelkes mentioned how important it is to stay out of the penalty box.
“Yeah, I think we’ve got to be more disciplined with ourselves. The penalties have been a big problem for us, especially in that last game against Brooks. So, I think more discipline and staying out of the box, I think we will like the result,” he explained.
In the game of hockey, you are never going to have every call go your way. Engelkes said it’s important for the Oilers not to get distracted as they need to stay on course, kill the penalty, and build momentum off the kill to use it to their advantage.
The Oilers will also head to Brooks on Sunday with another division matchup. Engelkes expressed how important this weekend is to come away with four points, as each game will feel like a playoff tilt here on out, as each team pushes for a playoff spot in the very tough Interior East Division.
“Yeah, I mean, the coaches, we just had a meeting not long ago, with where we’re at right now in the standings and how Spruce Grove has been playing, the playoffs are kind of starting for us right now, to be honest with you. It’s kind of game one for us, and we need to come in with that mentality right from the start. It’s a huge weekend for us, so we have to come away with a lot of points,” he said. “We are going to have a lot of people at this game on Friday. There’s a little bit more pep in the step and a little more jump knowing where we’re at and knowing that our windows getting a bit smaller, so we’ve got a big weekend for sure.”
Engelkes added that he enjoyed having the weekend off this past week, as he felt it helped him get over some things that had been bothering him, as he was a bit banged up and now feels refreshed as they head into tonight’s game.
As for Assistant Coach Reid Hnatowich, he feels that the team has to focus on keeping the goal totals down as they have found a scoring touch, but have been beaten on the defensive side of the puck more often than he would appreciate.
“Obviously, the big component is we need to get the goals down, and that’s desperation and us being a little bit better as a collective unit as a whole. We focused a lot on it this week. Now it’s the buy-in, it’s the communicating and doing it together as a team, which we need a shutdown,” Hnatowich said.
He continued by stating that when looking back at the game against Brooks, they got the offense they wanted, but gave up too many chances on the defensive side. Hnatowich and Engelkes both agreed that staying out of the penalty box will limit more of the chances for the opposing teams.
“You can’t take penalties against that team (Brooks Bandits). It hurt us substantially; it was differentiating in the game. We go, we score, and we end up taking a penalty. That was almost a turning point in them getting momentum back. You can’t give teams like that any life or blood because they’ll take advantage of it,” he explained.
Hnatowich added that not letting calls that don’t go your way affect you not only helps them as players but as people outside of the rink.
“It’s just the professionalism of the individual, it’s not even pertaining to hockey. It’s everything, adverse situations are going to happen, right? Knowing we have a guy who takes the puck to the net, you know he might wear a cross-check to the face. But again, he’s doing that for the team, we can’t retaliate because then that hurts the team. So, I think these kids are young; it’s managing emotions, it’s learning the maturity part,” Hnatowich said.
He added that an example of the Oilers’ emotions getting too high and playing for it was against Brooks.
Hnatwich explained that tonight’s game is a big one and has taken note of how well the Saints have been since the coaching turnover for them this past month. He would talk about how the desperation of the Saints is something the Green and Gold should replicate as each game is an important one here on out, especially against their division rival,s which the Oilers will see a ton of for the next two months. Hnatowich believes that the Saints may not be the most skilled team in the league, but feels their success lately has come from the team buying in defensivly which he also hopes the Oilers will replicate.
“It’s do or die, you look at Spruce beating Trail (on Tuesday). They climbed up there, so every point matters in every game because we’re in a situation where we’re fighting for our lives with it. Fighting to keep playing hockey,” he said.
Puck drop for tonight’s tilt is set for 7:05 MST at the VRC.
Tickets for tonight’s game are still available at: https://tickets.okotoksoilers.com/events/37874-spruce-grove-saints-vs-okotoks-oilers
The Okotoks Oilers are a not-for-profit, community-run junior hockey franchise competing in the BCHL and operating out of Viking Rentals Centre. For more information, visit okotoksoilers.com or follow the Oilers on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.
