Wiebe helps lift Oilers past Saints to take the 2025-2026 BCHL season series lead

Written by: Scott Savard

Headline photo: Scott Savard

Okotoks, AB (January 24, 2026) – The Okotoks Oilers have taken the 2025-2026 BCHL season series lead over their Interior East Division rivals, the Spruce Grove Saints, with a 5-2 win at Viking Rentals Centre (VRC) last night.

The Green and Gold have earned seven of a possible 10 points against the Saints this season, as they have won three games, and their first loss against Spruce Grove came in an 11-round shootout back in October.

The Oilers would hit a season high in attendance with 1,277 members of the Green Army showing their support at the VRC.

Josh Wiebe (Calgary, AB) was a force in the game with three points (2G, 1A), including the eventual game-winning goal with his second of the night in the second frame. Wiebe would finish with the first star honours, with Nate Porter (Hingham, MA) awarded the second star with a goal and an assist last night, along with Brady Englekes (Middleton, WI) getting the third star with two assists.

“It was just a really good effort by the whole team, by knowing their roles and executing. It was really good,” Wiebe said about the Oilers’ win last night. “Just bouncing back from last week. We just all knew it was do-or-die tonight, and just playing against Spruce Grove, who we are battling (in the standings), we just needed to get it done tonight.”

As for Wiebe’s three-point night, he said what worked for him was “keeping it simple, staying on course, and don’t let the lows and highs get to you.”

The Oilers focus going into last night’s game was to get their penalties down, as they headed to the sin bin seven times in their last game against Brooks. While they were able to limit the power plays against to four last night, Wiebe and the Oilers feel they can limit that number more.

“Yeah, we talked about it a lot. (Penalties) do hurt us a lot, so it’s good to get them down, but hopefully we can get them down even more,” he added about the Oilers headed to the box.

The Oilers will head to Brooks tomorrow night, as they have today off. Wiebe is no stranger to the Bandits, as he is a former player of the organization.

“Everyone’s just going to have to buy in just like (last night). Block shots, get the puck out, don’t take penalties, just stay disciplined and stick to our game plan,” Wiebe added.

It’s no secret that the Green and Gold need to string some wins together as the Interior East Division is one of the toughest in the league, and points are hard to come by. Wiebe said he’s excited for the opportunity and explained these situations are why you play the sport.

“Yeah, it’s our road to get into playoffs, it’s huge. If you don’t want to play playoff hockey, I don’t know why you’re here,” he said.

Another stand-out in last night’s game was goaltender Eric Young (Mill Bay, BC) as he made key saves, especially late in the game, to claim his 13th win of the 2025-2026 BCHL season. Young would prove his calmness is on another level as he faced multiple breakaways and turned them aside.

“It was a lot of fun. Guys stuck up, they’ve been working hard in practice, and their efforts paid off today. I’m really proud of the boys,” Young said about the Oilers’ win at the VRC last night. “They played for each other, they set each other up, and that was the difference at the end of the day. Just an unselfish game, put their egos aside and played for the team.”

Young would add that he felt confident last night and praised his teammates for having his back in every situation, which he said made his job easy.

When it comes to facing Brooks tomorrow night, Young agreed with Wiebe and the Oilers, as they will need to stay disciplined by avoiding trips to the sin bin.

“I think if we stay out of the box, like we did tonight, that’ll definitely give us a chance. Brooks is a good team; they’re good on special teams, they’re going to give us a run for our money, but we’re going to do the same.

Young said he got to bond with the team more during the All-Star break, but made sure to give out a shoutout to the Oilers’ three All-Stars and said he was proud they represented the team.

Young would make 23 saves in the tilt, which earned him a .920 save percentage in the game. Veteran netminder Ryan De Kok made his fourth start against the Oilers during the 2025-2026 BCHL for the Saints.

Both Young and De Kok would stand tall in the first frame as neither team was able to put one past the goaltenders. The Saints would open the scoring just before the three-minute mark of the second period, as Declan Waddick potted the game’s first goal.

The Oilers wouldn’t panic as they answered back with three goals in a span of just over three minutes. Wiebe collected his ninth of the season to bring the game back to even at the 5:35 mark. Michael Kowalski (Chicago, IL added his 15th assist of the season, and Porter would collect his first point of the night with the secondary assist. Kowalski would give the Oilers the lead less than two and a half minutes later with captain Brett Wilson (Calgary, AB) picking up the primary assist, and assistant captain Hunter Sawka (Cochrane, AB) adding the secondary helper.

Wiebe ripped home his second goal of the night and the eventual game-winner 56 seconds later as he made no mistake on Engelkes’ set up pass.

Porter would make it a 4-1 hockey game 1:24 into the third period as the Oilers were rolling. Wiebe and Engelkes would each pick up assists on Porter’s marker. Carson Llyod stopped the bleeding for the Saints, but it wouldn’t last long as veteran defenceman Luke Calabria (Huntington, NY) blasted a shot past De Kok on the power play to keep the Oilers ahead by three goals. Jordan Murray picked up his 14th point (5G, 9A) on the season and his 13th point at home with the primary assist. Sawka added his second helper of the game with the secondary assist.

The Oilers will continue their playoff push tomorrow in Brooks when the puck drops at 4:00 p.m. MST.