After losing an early lead in their third playoff game against the second-ranked Canmore Eagles Sunday night, the Grizzlys came from behind at the buzzer, and then stole a point in overtime to clinch the match and the series.
Tyr Thompson capitalized on a perfect setup from Austin Pickford to put the Grizzlys in the lead 1-0 only three minutes into the game.
The Eagles' Adam Tisdale answered late in the period to tie it up before the first intermission, and then pushed Canmore ahead early in the second period with a goal on a power play after James Orban took a cross-checking penalty.
Brett Stewart secured a healthy lead for the Eagles midway through the period, sending the Grizzlys into the second intermission behind 3-1.
"We were a little bit down there going into the second intermission," said Thompson, "but we went in there and we said we're not quitting, we're going to keep playing with passion, we're going to stick to our game plan."
Olds came back fighting in the third, keeping the Eagles in their end and almost matching their shots on net (11-13) after lagging behind 21-8 in the first and 14-8 in the second.
Hometown boy Chase Olsen closed the gap to 3-2 with less than four minutes to go with help from Thompson and Landon Gross. The trio then rallied for an encore, with Thompson scoring the tying goal 26 seconds before the buzzer in front of an ecstatic home crowd of 557.
The Grizzlys came out swinging in overtime, grabbing a few breakaways and matching the Eagles' shots, before Gross took his turn hitting the net, busting through a crowd to break the tie and clinch the series for Olds.
After a challenging year, dropping six regular season matches to the Eagles, including three in overtime, Thompson credits cohesion for the upset.
"I think we kinda just came into our own as a team," he said after the game. "We're playing cohesively, we're playing as a unit, we have all cylinders firing right now."
"Everybody played well," said head coach Dana Lattery afterward. "There weren't too many guys who had an off night. In playoffs you can't have an off night, because that will be your last night."
But it's not the Grizzlys' last night as they now gear up to face the Brooks Bandits, ranked first in the AJHL South, having lost only five games all season.
"Brooks is a fantastic team," said Lattery. "They are going to have to double their losses in one round (from) what they did all year. But we're up for the challenge, we've just got to take it one game at a time."
"They're very fast, they're very skilled and they're very well coached," said Thompson about their pending rivals. "I believe we have more heart and character than any other team in the league. I think we can do it off of that."
With no injuries heading into the next round of playoffs, and top scorer Ryley Smith back in the mix, the Grizzlys are ready to repeat their first-round performance.
"We're gonna take a bit of time here, we're gonna reset, we're gonna do our homework on Brooks," said Thompson about the upcoming week. "And we're gonna hopefully come out of there with another big upset."
THE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
The Grizzlys hit the ice again on March 17 with the first of two away games in Brooks, before returning to Olds on March 20. If you aren't headed to Brooks to cheer on the team, the Honky Tonk and Hockey Talk fundraiser will begin at 7 p.m. on March 18 at the Olds Sportsplex. The Flames' Brian Burke will be there to kick things off at 7:30 p.m. before Gord Bamford takes the stage at 8:45 p.m. The evening will end with a rinkside cabaret for age 18+. Tickets are available online at www.oldsgrizzlys.ca or you can still sign up to volunteer.
"I think we kinda just came into our own as a team. We're playing cohesively, we're playing as a unit, we have all cylinders firing right now."TYR THOMPSONOLDS GRIZZLYS
