The Olds Grizzlys scored six unanswered goals on Nov. 2 against the Okotoks Oilers on the way to a 6-3 victory, avenging a 5-2 defeat the previous night against the same team. The Grizzlys also beat the Sherwood Park Crusaders 2-1 on Oct.
The Olds Grizzlys scored six unanswered goals on Nov. 2 against the Okotoks Oilers on the way to a 6-3 victory, avenging a 5-2 defeat the previous night against the same team.
The Grizzlys also beat the Sherwood Park Crusaders 2-1 on Oct. 30 to give the team a tie for fifth place in the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s south division with the Calgary Mustangs, one point behind the Canmore Eagles.
Olds was down 2-0 after one period to the Oilers on Nov. 2 before Cale Brown and Derrick Morrell tied the score with goals within two minutes of each other late in the second period. Kyle Star scored on a sharp-angle slapshot that eluded Oilers netminder Keelan Williams to put the Grizzlys in the lead early in the third period, while BJ Duffin scored 27 seconds later to put the Grizzlys up 4-2. Dustin Gorgi and Austin Kernahan rounded out the scoring for the Grizzlys in the third.
Following the game, Brett Hopfe, the Grizzlys head coach, said the team had trouble finding energy during the first part of the game until Jack Goranson fought with Zack Fowles at 8:45 of the second period, which seemed to inspire his teammates.
"I think Jack Goranson stepping up and getting into a big scrap really turned the game around. He did that when we were down 2-0 and from then on we just started to roll. I think (Goranson), having previously been released by Okotoks, he showed a lot of passion out there and he turned the game around," he said.
Hopfe said he was pleased that so many players were able to get on the score sheet after having had tough games during the last few weeks.
"It’s always nice for guys to find the back of the net because it’s been a while since we’ve scored more than two goals in a game and I’m proud of a lot of different guys out there because they play different roles and we really found a way to win this one," he said.
Star’s sharp-angled goal and Gorgi’s goal (a wrist-shot from just inside the blue-line on a partial breakaway that eluded Williams) were two breaks that the Grizzlys will gladly take. Hopfe said those fortunate circumstances were the result of hard work earlier in those plays that the coaching staff has stressed all season long.
"We’ve talked about it before, if we keep on working hard and competing, the breaks are going to come and (Nov. 2) was a prime example. There were some opportunities there that we wouldn’t normally have capitalized on, but because we continue to work hard, good things happened for us," Hopfe said.
Especially in light of the previous game’s defeat against the Oilers, Hopfe was impressed with the effort.
"Even Kyle Star, one of our most skilled players, was finishing checks and because he played so hard he got rewarded with a goal," he said.
The Grizzlys organization also held a fundraiser during the game on Nov. 2 in memory of Tammy Moritz, the former Grizzlys business manager who was killed in a crash on Oct. 27. The money will go to STARS air ambulance and the Alberta Children’s Hospital, at the request of Moritz’s family. Rebecca Spiers, the team’s athletic therapist who organized the event, said she thought it would be a fitting tribute to Moritz for all the work she put into the organization during her three years with the team.
"We wanted to do something in her memory for all the years she put in," Spiers said.
The total amount raised was not available at press time.
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