OLDS — The Olds Grizzlys have a daunting task ahead of them tonight (Nov. 2).
They host the Brooks Bandits, 7:30 p.m. at the Sportsplex.
As usual, the Bandits are leading the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) Viterra South Division.
So far this season, they have a record of 15-1-0, having scored 109 goals and only given up 28 as of Oct. 31.
On the other hand, as of that date, the Grizzlys sat last in that eight-team division with a 3-13-2 record. In that time, they had scored 52 goals, but given up 94.
Grizzlys captain Noah Hackett says he’s not fazed.
In fact, he says he looks forward to the matchup.
“It’ll be a good test,” he said during an interview. “We always enjoy playing them though, so we’ll see what happens.
“It’s fun.”
Hackett said playing against the top team is a good yardstick for the Grizzlys; a chance to see what they’re made of and what they need to do to rise in the standings.
"We learn a lot from them and we kind of like use their tools to the game and kind of try to put them into ours and everything like that,” he said.
"We’ve always had kind of like, a good little rivalry with them ever since I’ve been here, so eventually we’ll beat them. Hopefully it’s on Tuesday.”
Hackett said the Grizzlys are better than the standings show.
"Our record doesn’t really reflect how we feel like we’ve been playing,” he said. “It’s been alright, but we know we can do a lot better. We have a really good team this year, so everything will fall into place for us eventually.”
For example, the powerplay is a source of pride.
“Our powerplay’s doing really good this year,” he said. “I think we’re like, top 3 in the league for it right now, so if that keeps going, it’ll be really great.”
However, he said, the team needs to tighten up defensively.
