OLDS — It's all over for the Olds Grizzlys now.
The Drumheller Dragons ended the Grizzlys' seaon with an 8-1 win in Drumheller on Saturday, March 7 taking the best-of-seven Alberta Junior Hockey League south division playoff series four games to one.
The Grizzlys opened the scoring Saturday with their lone goal of the night at 6:41 of the first period, when Dawson Leroux found the back of the Dragons' net on a feed from Logan Bromhead.
After that, it was all Drumheller.
They scored eight unanswered goals: two in the first period, three in the second, and another three in the third.
During virtually every game in the series, the Grizzlys were outshot by Drumheller and it was no different in this one. The Dragons outshot the Grizzlys 42-18 in this final game.
The Grizzlys were 0-3 on the power play. The Dragons were 1-5.
Leroux was the game star for the Grizzlys. Myles Hilman, who scored two goals for the Dragons, was the game star for Drumheller.
The Dragons beat the Grizzlys 4-1 in Game 4 Thursday, March 5 at the Olds Sportsplex.
The Grizzlys opened the scoring at the 18-minute mark of the first period when Zafir Rawji scored an unassisted goal.
But the Dragons scored four unanswered goals to seal the deal.
The Grizzlys were outshot 44-22.
Both teams were unable to score with the man advantage. The Grizzlys were blanked on four opportunities, the Dragons on five.
Bromhead was the game star for the Grizzlys. Kiano Robinson was the away star for the Dragons.
In Game 3, the Grizzlys lost a heartbreaker, a 4-3 decision in overtime.
Noah Hackett gave the Grizzlys a 1-0 lead at 5:51 of the first period, assisted by Hunter Floris.
Greg Nelson, assisted by Floris and Joel Shoemaker doubled that lead to 2-0 just 23 seconds into the second period.
However, the Dragons got on the board at 3:46 of that middle frame when Kaden Hanas scored, assisted by Hilman.
Bromhead restored the Grizzlys' two-goal margin just two minutes later at 5:36, assisted by Riley See and Tye Scherger.
However, the Dragons closed the gap to one goal, when Kobe Mohr scored at 12:02 of the second period, assisted by Brady Risk and Eric Martin.
Drumheller got the lone goal of the third period at the 10:15 mark, evening the score at 3-3 to force overtime. Luke Fennig did the damage on a feed from Scott Truman.
Derrick Budz of the Dragons got the game-winner at 1:29 of OT unassisted.
Once again, the Dragons outshot the Grizzlys, this time by a margin of 20: 42-22.
The Grizzlys surprised many by thrashing the Dragons 4-1 in Game 1 of the series on March 1 in Drumheller. However, the Dragons evened the series at one win apiece when they obtained a 5-0 shutout March 2, also in Drumheller.
The Dragons finished 50 points ahead of the Grizzlys in the regular season with a 37-18-3 record for 77 points, compared to the Grizzlys’ 10-41-7 record for 27 points.
Ice chips
Congratulations to Logan Bromhead.
It was announced March 6 that the Grizzlys forward has committed to play for Simon Fraser University next season.
The university says Bromhead, originally from Coquitlam, B.C., is their first recruit for the 2020-21 season.
