OLDS — Midway through the six-game exhibition season, Olds Grizzlys head coach Brad Tobin was pleased with some aspects of his Junior A hockey team but a bit concerned about others.
“(The) offence (is) looking good, we just need to generate more shots,” he wrote to the Albertan. “Defence is a work in progress, (a) couple new players have been inserted into the lineup to find the right mix.
“Special teams is (the) same thing; trying to find the right mix both on the PP/PK.”
Game 5 of the exhibition season goes Friday with Olds visiting Canmore.
Tobin said he was pleased with goaltender Conner Johnson’s performance in a 2-1 win over the Dragons in Drumheller Sunday, Sept. 1, saying he looked “great.”
Tobin noted as of early last week, the team still had four goaltenders in camp and needed to cut that figure down “soon.”
Four games into the exhibition season, the Grizzlys sported a 4-1 record. The team's perfect 3-0 record was shattered when they were hammered 10-0 by the Drumheller Dragons. Interestingly, the Dragons' roster included Ryan Seeley of Olds.
Admittedly, winning is not necessarily the purpose of exhibition games; it’s to get a good look at the talent in the lineup and where players might fit with one another, but Tobin admitted winning has been good for an organization that only won 10 games last season.
“I think the winning part has given the returning players a jolt,” he wrote. “They’re excited how things have been progressing, especially battling back into games and coming out on top; there’s been no quit.”
Tobin said assistant coach Colten Hayes, hired at the end of August, is working out well and described him as “a good addition.”
“He’s been on the bench the last two games, getting to know the players,” Tobin wrote.
Tobin said he’ll run the forwards and Hayes will run the D.
Also, a second assistant coach was listed on Wednesday night's program: Mitch Visser.
