Good things came in threes for the Okotoks Oilers on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
Jack Silverberg scored three goals in the first six minutes of the second period to lift the Okotoks Oilers past the Sherwood Park Crusaders by a 3-2 score on Friday at Okotoks Centennial Arenas for the team’s first hat trick in BCHL play.
“What you ask for in games is open shots,” said Silverberg. “And my buddies were able to get me some clean passes there so I had to put it away for them.”
Silverberg opened the scoring via a second phase attack on an odd-man rush, doubled his money with a clearcut breakaway tally and completed the trick with a well-placed wrist shot on the rush.
All three goals came in a 4:10 span as Okotoks’ first period dominance began to be reflected on the scoreboard.
“That’s definitely our game, speed, and we had quick shifts today and got all of our lines rolling,” said Silverberg. “When we do that, it’s hard for them to compete with that.”
https://twitter.com/BCHockeyLeague/status/1768839628155494761
Cole Assailly and Ryan Zaremba countered for the visitors with Christian Green posting 28 saves for his first win in BCHL action.
The victory was the first over the Crusaders in three games in the BCHL.
“It’s huge, we definitely have to get some points here going into the playoffs, every game is huge,” he added. “We’re looking at it as a new season, there’s a little bit of the last season that creeps in a little bit, but we’re looking at that as brand new and that’s our first win (over the Crusaders) and we’ll try and build off it.”
Okotoks improved to 4-8-1 in BCHL play with every point proving crucial given the recently announced playoff format.
The top three teams avoid the play-in round with the four versus five seeds battling it out to get into the final four.
“It’s a new season, it’s a little bit weird, but we’re getting settled in,” he added. “It wasn’t the start we were looking for, but I think we’re going to start ramping up here in our last 10 games.
“The four-versus-five just to get into the playoffs, that’s going to be pretty taxing on the body, so we definitely don’t want to be in that so top three would be huge.”
Okotoks is back on the ice Saturday night in Blackfalds versus the third-place Bulldogs. The Oilers are next at home on March 22 versus the Spruce Grove Saints.
Go to bchl.ca for full schedule information.
Mustang MacNeil
Okotoks Oilers forward Owen MacNeil will be taking his strong junior career to U SPORTS next season.
MacNeil, a veteran of four seasons in the Western Hockey League with both the Spokane Chiefs and Medicine Hat Tigers, will be plying his trade next season with the University of Western Ontario Mustangs in the OUA.
The 2003-born centre joined Okotoks early in the 2023-24 campaign and has posted 50 points (12 goals, 38 assists) in 49 games as an Oiler.
“This is a great fit for Owen and extremely well-deserved,” said Oilers head coach and GM Tyler Deis, in a team release. “When we signed Owen, we knew from Medicine Hat and from Willie Desjardins that he would play an important role for us both on and off the ice, and that’s exactly what he’s done for us this year.
“He has had an extremely positive impact in our room and Western is going to benefit from his experience just as much as we have. We’re proud to be sending another Calgary kid to an excellent school.”
