It’s officially a dynasty in Okotoks.
The Carstar Okotoks Bisons won their third consecutive Heritage Junior Hockey League championship Saturday night in Sylvan Lake, bucking a trend of five straight wins by the home team in a 1-0 Game 6 triumph to take the best-of-seven league final 4-2.
Grady Nicholas, the HJHL Goalie of the Year, stepped up with a 26-save performance for his second straight shutout in the final and third overall in the postseason.
Easton Dean notched his first point of the series in dramatic fashion, breaking the goalless deadlock with just 14 seconds left in the second period, in what proved to be the game and series winner.
Seven Bisons have been part of all three championship runs: captain Lucas Watkins, alternate captains Brayden Kapty, Adam Kirkpatrick and Jake Snashall, wingers Scott Brown, Daniel Tainton and blueliner Kegan Law under the guidance of head coach Brad Cobb and assistant coach Trevor Bueckert.
Six additional members of the team were part of last year’s squad and are repeat champions: Dean, Nicholas, Caden Scott, Avery Greig, Ethan MacIntyre and Kaleb Schuller.
Okotoks swept its 11 playoff games en route to the 2023 title.
They faced a stiffer test in the 2024 postseason with a competitive four-game series win over High River, a sweep of the Rocky Rams and a dogfight against the North Division kingpin Wranglers.
Sylvan Lake took both of its home games to twice even the series on Okotoks with a high-octane powerplay putting pressure on the two-time defending champions.
Okotoks answered with a suffocating 3-0 shutout in Game 5 Friday on home ice to tee up the chance to clinch the following night on the road.
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Eleven skaters are celebrating their first titles with the club, a group that includes Owen McFarlane, Seamus Garagan, Jady Shigehiro, Hunter Cobb, Trevor Bonham, Nolan Smith, Kaleb Brown, Jakob Semeniuk, Ethan Partaker, Dryden Harding and netminder Logan Maroni.
Okotoks, 14-time HJHL champions, has now won three titles in a row on three occasions during its prolific tenure in the Jr. B loop, most recently taking four straight from 2011-14, along with a 2001-03 three-peat.
The team moves on as the sole HJHL representatives at the Hockey Alberta Junior B Provincial Championships.
The six-team tournament, also featuring the defending champion Wainwright Bisons, host North Peace Navigators, St. Albert Merchants, La Crete Lumber Barons and Calgary’s NWCAA Stampeders, runs April 3-7 in Peace River.
For more information, go to okotoksbisons.com.
