The Olds Grizzlys split a pair of weekend games, losing 4-2 to the Canmore Eagles on Dec. 15 and blanking the Calgary Mustangs 2-0 two days earlier.
In an ironic twist, the Grizzlys outshot the Eagles 51-23 and were outshot 36-29 by the Mustangs in the Alberta Junior Hockey League contests.
During the game against the Eagles, the Grizzlys peppered Eagles' goaltender Ryan Ferguson with 16 shots in the first period, followed by 18 in the second and 17 in the final frame. The Grizzlys led 1-0 after the first on a goal by BJ Duffin, but then allowed three straight Eagles goals before Christopher Gerrie scored on a goal-mouth scramble in the third period to pull the Grizzlys to within a goal at 3-2 at 13:30 of the third period. Jordan Revie added an empty net goal for the Eagles as the Grizzlys pressed for the equalizer.
“Definitely the bounces didn't really go our way,” said Ethan Jemieff, who stopped 22 shots in net for the Grizzlys, following the game. “We had 51 shots and probably missed four open nets and the other goalie made a couple of nice saves, but I mean the bounces (didn't) go our way. Everything was going against us. Every mistake we made ended up in the back of our net and every great thing we did couldn't go in.”
Jemieff said the Grizzlys played well enough to win the game, but weren't able to capitalize on the chances they had.
“This was probably one of the best games we played fundamentally wise but just a couple of bounces and a couple of bad penalties and it ends up in the back of our net,” he said.
Jemieff downplayed his part in the shutout two days earlier, saying teammates in front of him did a good job to score two goals for the victory. Landon Kletke got a power-play goal in the second period and Duffin added an even-strength goal in the third.
“It's always fun to get a shutout but it's a team game and obviously I can't go score goals, so it's nice we got a couple goals and I just did my part to stop the puck,” he said.
Jemieff said he was looking forward to the remaining games before the holiday break, with two against south-division rival, the Brooks Bandits. The Bandits lead the south division with 48 points while the Grizzlys are sixth with 36. The two teams play home-and-home matches with the Bandits travelling to town on Dec. 17 and the Grizzlys travelling to the southern city on Dec. 20. Jemieff said the two games would be a good yardstick with which to measure where the Grizzlys are at in their season.
