OLDS — The Olds Grizzlys host the Drumheller Dragons Friday then undertake a home-and-home series against the Canmore Eagles Dec. 7 and 10.
Game time at the Olds Sportsplex on Dec. 6 and Tuesday is 7 p.m.
If the Grizzlys can win some – or all – of those games, they could finally vault out of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s (AJHL) South Division basement.
A win over the Dragons could start that climb; and that might be possible.
As of Wednesday, the Dragons (13-10-2-0 in 25 games) were only five points up on the Grizzlys (10-13-0-0 in 23 games).
Obtaining wins over the high-flying Eagles is a more daunting task.
As of Wednesday, they sat in second place in the AJHL South with a 15-7-3-0 record for 33 points in 25 games.
Still, Grizzlys head coach Brad Tobin has a recipe for that objective.
“We need to have desperation in our game, need to play with intensity and raise our compete level for a full 60 minutes,” he wrote in a text.
“It would be big to get two wins this weekend and get closer into a playoff spot.”
Grizzly paw prints
Tobin says former defenceman Brenden Thomas, acquired from the Whitecourt Wolverines for future considerations in a trade announced Dec. 2, has skated in practice with the Grizzlys for the last few days.
Tobin said he can give the team a “boost.”
However, he also noted that Thomas has only 21 games of AJHL experience “so he’s still learning how to play at this level.”
