The Olds Grizzlys are moving on to the Alberta Junior Hockey League semi-finals after dispatching the Okotoks Oilers in Game 6 of the clubs' play-off series on Thursday night at the Olds Sports Complex. The Grizzlys hung on for a 4-3 victory, taking the series four games to two.
On Thursday, the two teams played a scoreless first period, with the Grizzlys having a slight edge in play.
In the second, with the home side down one man, Brandon Clowes took the puck from his own side of centre and manoeuvred around a fallen Oiler defenceman at centre ice before racing down and firing the puck past Oiler goaltender Michael Tadjdeh. Mitch Owsley then scored on the powerplay four minutes later, midway through the period to give the Grizzlys a 2-0 advantage. Clowes got his second of the game on the powerplay four minutes after that to give the Grizzlys a 3-0 lead after two periods.
In the third, the Oilers came out with a purpose, scoring two goals before the midway mark of the period. Dylan Hubbs provided the Grizzlys with what turned out to be the game and series winner at 12:29. In the dying moments of the game, with the Oilers on the powerplay, Derek Bacon scored the team's final goal of the season, with just 1:08 left on the clock. Despite pulling Tadjdeh for a sixth attacker, however, the Oilers were unable to get the equalizer on Brandon Thiessen, who stopped 30 shots for the victory.
Following the game, Brett Hopfe, the Grizzlys' head coach, said he thought the Grizzlys' penalty-killing units played well in the third to help the team through what he described as “suspect calls.”
“I thought that the guys battled through it. Obviously, it was a lot of adversity we had to go through in that period and the bottom line is we got the win and that's what we needed,” he said.
Coming off a 7-1 loss against the Oilers the previous night, Hopfe said the players learned that even though they didn't play badly, they would have to compete much harder in order to win games.
“I think we learned that they're not going to give it to us, so it made us work harder (Thursday),” he said.
Hubbs said he thought the team played well, despite surviving the Oilers' attack in the last few minutes.
“It was pretty intense. We definitely thought we were in control of the whole thing and then coming into the last couple minutes there, it was kinda nerve-wracking but we pulled it off and it was a good effort,” he said.
Hubbs said after the Oilers got two goals, everyone re-focussed and battled hard to the final buzzer.
“We definitely knew from previous games that they were going to come out hard like they usually do and we just kinda kept focussed after they scored those two quick goals and we never lost hope,” he said.
The Grizzlys will now face the Brooks Bandits, who finished first in the south division, 51 points ahead of them in the regular season standings. The two teams played six times in the regular season, with the Bandits winning all six games by a minimum of two goals.
“It's something that we're going to look into and figure out when it comes to how to play against them. We're excited about it and it will be a great challenge for us,” Hopfe said.
The Grizzlys will be without the services of Lucas Grundy for three games after he was assessed a match penalty in the third period of Thursday's game.
"Obviously, it was a lot of adversity we had to go through in that (third) period and the bottom line is we got the w and that's what we needed."Brett Hopfe, head coach, Olds Grizzlys
