The climax of the Olds Grizzlys' last home game of the regular season on March 1 came early in the third period when team captain Spencer Dorowicz fired home his 40th goal of the season.He was lying in wait just in front of the Calgary Canucks net when Ty Mappin tapped a light backhand pass to him that Dorowicz was able to drive past Calgary netminder Colin Cooper.It helped the Grizzlys to a 3-1 win over the Canucks and a much-needed boost of confidence following an eight-game losing streak that had extended to their last road game against the Camrose Kodiaks the night before.Dorowicz, 20, an Olds native who led the Alberta Junior Hockey League in goals scored this season and was a finalist for the league's MVP award, said he felt “shivers” when he heard the crowd cheer and the announcer yell out he had hit the 40-goal milestone.“It was an amazing feeling to do that on home ice. I had great linemates that helped me get that,” he said, adding he had just wanted to finish the season with a win and the 40th goal was only in the back of his mind. “I couldn't have dreamed it up.”The March 1 game was also the first time Chris Gerrie played at home since the AJHL named the 17-year-old as its 2013-14 rookie of the year.Gerrie led all AJHL rookies in goals, with 18, assists, with 25, and points, with 53.His 19 power-play assists placed him among the Top 3 AJHL scorers.He said he was on his way to school when he received the news from Grizzlys head coach Brett Hopfe.“It was overwhelming,” Gerrie said. “I was so blessed to be able to have that award.”He added he had come into the season with a mindset of focusing on the fundamentals and it paid off.“Just do every little thing right and work as hard as I can. I wanted to be as consistent as possible so I thought, if I could do the little things, that would come.”The Grizzlys will now take on the Okotoks Oilers in the first round of the playoffs and even though Olds has fallen to Okotoks in their last two meetings, Hopfe said it's the Oilers who should be worried.“We're a playoff-type team. We'll make it hard on them to come out of that series. Playing five games in a row against our team, a team that's physical and mean and tough is going to be scary for any team,” he said, adding the Grizzlys outshot Okotoks in their last game and didn't allow a single goal on the Oilers' power play.The team has a great deal of confidence coming off the win against the Canucks and have already forgotten about the losing streak, which Hopfe attributed to nine players being sidelined with injuries.“When you look at those guys who were out, they were key guys for us. I don't care what team it is, if you've got nine guys out, it's going to be a difficult stretch.”Game 1 of the Olds-Okotoks playoff series is on March 6 in Okotoks.Game 2 in Okotoks is on March 7 and the Grizzlys bring the series back to Olds on March 9 at 7:30 [email protected]
