OLDS — As of Tuesday, Oct. 15, the Olds Grizzlys had vaulted from the basement into fourth place in the Alberta Junior Hockey Leagues’ six-team south division, only two points behind the third-place Calgary Canucks.
The Grizzlys accomplished that feat with back-to-back one-goal overtime wins over the Bonnyville Pontiacs Friday, Oct. 11 and the Drayton Valley Thunder the next night.
Both games were played at home in the Sportsplex. The Grizzlys edged the Pontiacs 4-3 and the Thunder 3-2.
Prevailed over Pontiacs
In Friday night’s game, the Pontiacs opened the scoring at 17:33 of the first period.
However, the Grizzlys tied the score 1-1 at 2:48 of the second period when Michael Albert potted his first goal of the season, assisted by Jonathan Doucette.
The Pontiacs took the lead again 9:56 of the middle frame but at 14:26, Grizzlys forward Antonio Bevacqua tied the score on the powerplay, his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Braeden Veldhuizen and Mitchell Patrick.
In the third period, Veldhuizen gave the Grizzlys the lead at the 1:38 mark, scoring his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Tristan Taylor and Quinn Abbott.
However, the Pontiacs knotted the score yet again at the 2:25 mark.
That led to overtime.
Patrick got the game winner – his fifth of the season – at the 2:45 mark of extra time, assisted by Doucette and Justin Vandermeer.
Aidan Fischer went the whole way in net, stopping 29 of 32 shots on goal. Pontiacs goaltender Cody Butikis turned away 42 of 46.
The Grizzlys were one for seven on the powerplay. The Pontiacs were zero for three with the man advantage.
Thunder-ous result
On Saturday night, the visitors opened the scoring once again, this time at 1:33 of the first period.
However, the Grizzlys responded at 3:21 of the second period when Veldhuizen scored his fifth goal of the season, a powerplay marker, assisted by Bevacqua and Junshi Hideshima.
At 16:48 of the third period, Bailey Shortall scored his first goal of the season unassisted to give the Grizzlys a 2-1 lead.
The game was almost over before the Thunder tied the score at 19:04 of the third period.
That forced overtime for the second game in two nights.
And once again, the Grizzlys prevailed.
This time, team captain Connor Seeley was the hero, getting the game winner, his second of the season, at the 4:57 mark of OT, assisted interestingly enough, by Fischer.
Fischer had an easier night in this game, only facing 20 shots on goal. He stopped 18. Cameron Doucette, his counterpart for the Thunder, stopped 31 of 34 shots on net.
The Grizzlys were one for four on the powerplay. The Thunder were zero for one with the man advantage.
Encouraging record
With that win, the Grizzlys record stood at 6-4-0-0, good for 12 points in 10 games and, as noted, fourth place in the South Division just two points back of the Canucks.
Grizzlys head coach Brad Tobin was asked what accounts for their positive start to the season.
“The players are buying into what we’ve been preaching systems-wise and they’ve had a no quit attitude,” he wrote in a text.
Next up, the Grizzlys host the Whitecourt Wolverines this Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m., the last game of a five-game homestand.
Currently, the Wolverines sit in second place in the SJHL’s North Division with a 6-3-0-1 record for 13 points in 10 games, not much different than the Grizzlys’.
“(I) haven’t seen Whitecourt yet this season, so it’ll be a good test for us,” Tobin wrote.
This Sunday, the Grizzlys will be on the road for a rare 2 p.m. game against the Drumheller Dragons.
“We’ve seen Drumheller a few times this season and have a success in their barn, so looking forward to it,” Tobin wrote.
It was jokingly pointed out that if the Grizzlys keep playing like they have, they could very soon eclipse the 10 wins the team obtained last season.
“A couple more good weekends and you never know,” Tobin wrote.
Tobin named a few key players.
“Aidan Fischer in net has been playing really well. Antonio Bevacqua has been looking solid and Junshi Hideshima has been a work horse,” he wrote.
