A name synonymous with Bisons hockey added to its lore on the weekend.
Owen McFarlane scored in his Carstar Okotoks Bisons debut to highlight a 4-1 win for the herd over the Coaldale Copperheads, adding to a family history that dates back to the origins of the Jr. B club in the 1980s.
“It’s my first game in eight weeks since my injury and felt pretty good to be back out there,” McFarlane said. “Grandpa (Bill) started this team back in the (1980s), uncle is still the president, and my dad was the coach a few years ago.
“I feel like it’s almost a legacy so it feels pretty good to play again, especially for this team.”
Dad Trevor and uncle Jay, the current president, both played for the Bisons as well.
But Owen was encouraged to forge his own path in the sport.
“I did a few Timbits skates with the team, but that was really it and my dad wanted me to focus on my own career,” McFarlane said. “When this came into the equation, it’s kind of all we talk about at the house.”
McFarlane started the season with the Nelson Leafs in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League where he sustained a shoulder injury.
“I came back here for rehab and didn’t want to go back,” he said. “I talked to coach (Brad) Cobb and he said they’d love to have me come play for the team.”
McFarlane scored the fourth and final goal for the home team last Friday, finding space in the slot for a twisted wrister off the crossbar and into the net in the middle stanza.
“I didn’t even see it go in, to be honest,” McFarlane said. “I was looking for the rebound and I just got swarmed. I feel like now I don’t have the monkey on my back.”
Okotoks jumped out to a 3-0 advantage with an authoritative performance in the opening frame.
Jakob Semeniuk, Daniel Tainton and Kegan Law all lit the lamp on the man-advantage, making the Copperheads pay for a penalty-filled period.
“That’s been Coaldale since day one that I started playing in this league,” Tainton said. “They go out there and try to hit everything that moves and get us off our game.
“We were strong, we had a couple brain farts, our F-3 needs to better, our D-zone needs to be a little better, but that just comes as practices come along. We’ve got a lot to still work on, but it’s still early in the year.”
The Bisons made it four wins in a row by knocking off the visiting Three Hills Thrashers on Saturday by a 5-1 count.
Lucas Watkins, Zach Stangness, Brayden Kapty, Scott Brown and McFarlane scored in the win with Drew Cadenhead stopping 26 of 27 shots for his second victory.
“It’s a great group of guys,” McFarlane said. “They were very welcoming when I first got to the team, they all wanted to get to know me, they all know my dad from a few years ago and it’s pretty good.”
This week, Okotoks (8-1-0) makes the short trek south to take on the High River Flyers on Oct. 27 and then visit Medicine Hat Cubs on Oct. 28. The Cubs and Bisons are tied for top spot in the Southern Division with 16 points.
For more information, visit okotoksbisons.com.
