Oilers and Dragons set for first round series
Hockey: Okotoks opens post-season versus seventh place Drumheller
The Okotoks Oilers’ late season push earned them a playoff match-up with an opponent the Alberta Junior Hockey League team has yet to lose to in regulation this season.
The second-seed Okotoks Oilers and seventh-place Drumheller Dragons will meet in the South Division quarterfinal best-out-of-five playoff series starting Feb. 24 in Okotoks.
The Oilers posted a 5-0-1 mark over the Dragons while outscoring their South Division foes by a 28-9 margin during the 2011-12 regular season. The playoffs are a different animal and, as Oilers head coach James Poole said, the Okotoks players are going to have to earn their success.
“At times when we played Drumheller we got complacent and when you sit back and play tentative thinking things our just going to happen they’re a team that can definitely force the issue and create some scoring chances,” Poole said.
The Oilers’ bench boss said an effective forecheck as a five-man unit will also be vital as the Dragons can be a dangerous team on the counterattack.
“If we have guys missing assignments they have a few plays where they seem to stretch some guys out of the zone and at times have caught us with some odd-man rushes,” Poole said.
“They do have some speed and some skill so the biggest thing is making sure we’re committed defensively and being really physical on their skilled forwards.”
Drumheller finished 14th in the AJHL in goals for and is void of top 30 scorer. However, the Dragons first unit of Ryan Bloom, Doug Jones and Sam Lawson enters the post-season as one of the league’s hottest lines with a combined 18 goals and 40 points in its last 10 games. Dragons head coach Barry Wolff said his top line played a vital role in Drumheller’s improved play down the stretch.
“Those guys when they move the puck and shoot the puck they can score some goals,” said Wolff. “One thing they need to do is move their feet and keep moving otherwise it’s too easy to key in on them and shut them down which, I’m sure for Okotoks, will be key for them.”
Wolff said he’s not concerned with the regular season meetings between the clubs as the playoffs offer the youthful Dragons a clean slate.
“That’s in the past and we’re not really worried about that too much,” Wolff said of Drumheller’s 1-4-1 record against Okotoks in 2011-12. “We know what they have and what they bring and they’re an extremely good team.”
For Wolff, keeping the Oilers’, the fifth highest scoring team in the AJHL, in check offensively will be critical to Dragons hopes in the first-round series.
“They’ve got a ton of skill and we’ve got to keep them off the scoreboard and that’s going to be our biggest job,” Wolff said.
The Dragons are a young team with just two 1991 born skaters. Given their lack of experience, Wolff said his club has built an identity as a hard working team.
“Work ethic has been our key, when we bring that we’re a good team and have a chance to win,” Wolff said. “When we don’t have that we’re in trouble.”
The Oilers enter the post-season on the heels of an 8-2 record highlighted by a come from behind 7-5 victory over the Sherwood Park Crusaders on Feb. 19 to earn the second-seed in the South.
“I think our game is there it’s just really the focus and the mental toughness to stick with it for a full 60 minutes,” Poole said of the Oilers end of season performances. “We’re close, but we really need to tighten up a few areas of our game, namely our defensive zone and our special teams.”
One steadying force for Okotoks has been the consistent goal scoring exploits of mid-season acquisition Tyler Krause. With 23 goals in 27 games since joining Okotoks from the Westside Warriors of the British Columbia Hockey League, Krause leads the AJHL in goals per game. The 20-year-old winger said he’s never been on a goal-scoring run quite like the one he’s been on since arriving in Okotoks.
“In years past it’s been tough for me to score goals, but this year being put in a shooting role and just working on my shot over the summer it’s really paid off,” Krause said.
Skating on a first line with playmaking centre and Oilers captain Derek Bacon hasn’t hurt either.
“It’s been a great help, he’s unbelievable at finding the open man, works extremely hard and he’s a very easy guy to play with,” Krause said of Bacon.
The Kelowna native said there’s a simple equation to carrying the Oilers form into the first-round series.
“As a team we’ve just got to make sure that we’re playing a full 60 minute game and individually I’ve just got to keep shooting the puck and working hard to get to the scoring areas,” Krause said.
The veteran right winger, who tallied six goals and nine points in four games versus Drumheller, said the Oilers have enough maturity to not take the Dragons lightly.
“The team is pretty well rounded and understands you’ve got to deal with it day by day and not look too far ahead,” Krause said. “That’s what can happen teams catch you sleeping in the playoffs when you start looking too far ahead.”
The Oilers and Dragons kick off their playoff quests in game one of the series, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at Centennial Arena in Okotoks with game two going Feb. 25 at the same venue. For more information go to www.okotoksoilers.com.
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