A victory nearly four years in the making has been brewed up in the Battle of the Foothills.
The High River Brewing Co. Flyers shutout the Carstar Okotoks Bisons 4-0 last Friday at the Bob Snodgrass Recplex for their first win over the two-time defending Heritage Junior Hockey League champions since February 2020.
Netminder Parker Forrest, from Okotoks, made 42 saves for the shutout versus his hometown team.
Brendan McKague, Carter Kelly, Grayden Ewing and McCallum Bakken scored for the Flyers who halted Okotoks’ winning streak at eight games.
The always combative rivalry saw 167 combined penalty minutes handed out in the contest.
Okotoks bounced back immediately with a 4-3 overtime triumph the following night in Coaldale.
Scott Brown scored his 17th of the season 3:29 into the extra session to secure the two points for the visitors. Ethan MacIntyre, Kaleb Schuller and Dryden Harding scored for Okotoks, the latter of which his first since joining the team earlier in the month.
Okotoks (26-3-0) remains well-positioned with a six-point cushion atop the South Division. Both Okotoks and the North Division-leading Sylvan Lake Wranglers have 52 points through 29 games.
The herd comes home this weekend with a pair of intriguing contests on deck.
The Bisons take on the second-place Medicine Hat Cubs on Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. with the Airdrie Thunder visiting the Murray Arena on Jan. 27, an 8:30 p.m. start.
For more information go to okotoksbisons.com.
