OLDS — A former Olds Grizzly goaltender now living in North Carolina came to Olds on Jan. 12. during one of the coldest days of the year to see his old team play at the Sportsplex.
Mike Cotrone, who played for the team during the 1992-93 season when the Grizzlys won the AJHL championship, was not disappointed.
This year’s squad got their ninth win of the season that day, downing the Lloydminster Bobcats 4-2.
While all the other fans in the stands were in their winter coats, Cotrone sat wearing a T-shirt, surrounded by three of his four kids (a fifth is on the way). His wife and son were ill and remained in Calgary.
“I’ve got my jacket; I’m good,” he said with a smile. “But yeah, I remember cold, but I don’t remember this cold, so good luck, I guess.”
The Cotrone family was in Alberta for about a week. They explored Banff and Calgary. Cotrone planned the vacation so he could make a side trip to see the Grizzlys play.
Cotrone said the weather was an experience for his kids.
“It’s culture-shocking weather for them,” he said.
“They love it because we don’t have snow practically. As soon as we got here in Banff it snowed right away, so we literally had them ice skating and playing in the snow the last four days, so it’s been great.”
Cotrone is in the IT field and two of his companies are Grizzlys sponsors. So he came to Olds not only to catch a game, but catch up with some of his old teammates who are also involved with the Grizzlys.
Cotrone is originally from Greenlawn, N.Y. He was traded from the Portland Winter Hawks to Olds. After one year, Cotrone asked for a trade because he wanted more playing time, so he was moved to Lloydminster. He played there for a few years, then spent four months in Alaska in the West Coast League.
Eventually he moved to North Carolina, and after hanging up his skates, got into the IT business.
Cotrone is still a big AJHL fan. He says so far, he’s managed to catch about 75 per cent of the Grizzlys' games via pucktv.com and prefers watching them to following the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.
He has some thoughts about this season’s edition of the Grizzlys.
“I think what they’re doing this afternoon is what they need to continue to do – hit hard, capitalize on opportunities,” he said.
“When they make some good hits, they’re forcing the puck to do certain things, giving them opportunities and they’ve been capitalizing on that pretty well.”
He thought the D did a “very good job” of clearing pucks from around the crease.
Cotrone also liked the Grizzlys’ transition game.
“There were a couple of shots or opportunities where we beat a couple of their defencemen flat-footed pretty well to get a couple of two-on-ones, and that was looking pretty good,” he said. “A couple of good passes.”
During the game, the P.A. announcer announced Cotrone’s presence and thanked him for his support of the Grizzlys.
The Cotrones have three girls and one boy.
Two of the girls are figure skaters and the other wants to play hockey. His son wants to play soccer. Cotrone has tried to interest him in hockey, but so far, that hasn’t happened.
Noting he played for both Lloydminster and Olds, Cotrone was asked who he was cheering for.
“Well, I think my emotional equity’s still with the Grizzlys,” he said. “No matter how many years I played in Lloyd, I still had more bonds with the team I played with from ’92 to ’93.
“So it was great that they were playing Lloyd in this game I was able to come to.”
