The Black and Gold deserved better, according to Grizzlys head coach Brett Hopfe following a 4-0 loss at home to the Spruce Grove Saints on Oct. 4, a game that was far closer than the score would indicate.
“We deserved to win that game in my opinion,” Hopfe said. “We made a couple mistakes that they capitalized on but for the most part, start to finish, I felt that we outplayed them.”
One night after defeating the Drumheller Dragons 4-3 in a shootout at the Olds Sportsplex, the Grizzlys offence came up empty against the Saints, the defending AJHL champions.
However, it wasn't for the lack of opportunities, as the Grizzlys outshot the Saints 34-28.
Early in the second period, Saints goalie Tanner McCorriston turned the puck over behind the net, but Olds failed to capitalize.
Midway through the third period, with the score 3-0, Saints defenceman Jordan Thomas was nailed with a four-minute high-sticking penalty that the Grizzlys didn't score on.
In the dying minutes of the game, forward Dustin Gorgi found the puck on his stick in the slot but had his shot deflected out of play.
Moments later, the Saints scored an empty-net goal to seal the game.
“We had some glorious opportunities to put the puck in. It just didn't happen and you know what? That's hockey,” Hopfe said. “We've had games this year that I felt like we didn't deserve to win them but we did and there's going to be games this year similar to this one, where we didn't pull out the ‘W'.”
With the split over the weekend, the Grizzlys' record is now 6-5-1, good for 13 points and third place in the AJHL South Division.
“We learned quite a bit about both Drumheller and Spruce Grove. This season's a process. It's always a process,” Hopfe said.
“Every game's a test of where you're at. Any team can beat any team in this league. Whether you're first or last, if you don't come out to play, then you'll lose.”
The two games also saw the season debuts of two Grizzlys: forward Ty Mappin, returning to Olds after starting the year with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL; and newly acquired defenceman Kirk Johnson, formerly of the Calgary Hitmen and Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL.
The game against Drumheller drew 527 people.
The game against Spruce Grove drew 731 and was held in conjunction with the Good for Olds Challenge, featuring giveaways throughout the game and a mascot race during the first intermission. The goal was to get 100 good deeds posted to the Anonymous Good website that night.
