Treat it like any other game, that’s the goal anyway.
Coaches are preaching a pragmatic approach to the second incarnation of the Okotoks Midget AA Battle of Okotoks on Feb. 12 – when the Oilers Green and Black face-off for the only time in the South Central Alberta Hockey League.
“As a coach you have to temper the game a little bit,” said Okotoks Midget Green head coach Chris Williams. “At the end of the day it’s an out-of-division game. It’s not a four-point game like we’re going to have down the stretch against Taber, Lethbridge and Strathmore.
“But bragging rights are on the line and with them as provincial hosts we want to send the message there’s going to be two Okotoks teams in that tournament.”
Okotoks was painted Black following last year’s inaugural Battle of Okotoks.
Okotoks Black jumped out to a three-goal advantage and held on for a 5-3 triumph. Black went on to finish second in the divisional playoffs and narrowly miss out on provincials.
The game had the opposite effect on Green as it battled inconsistency down the stretch and in its short-lived playoff bid.
“Last year it was a good game, back-and-forth. That loss kind of torpedoed our confidence,” Williams said. “This year we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“If we win, great. If we lose, that’s okay too. Let’s just keep going and stick to our plan.”
Hosts of the Midget AA Provincial Championship in mid-March, Okotoks Black (14-10-3) is in the midst of its toughest stretch of the season.
The two points come before anything else.
“We want to treat it like any other game,” said Okotoks Black head coach Kevin Kobelka. “They’re a competitive team in the South, we’re in the spot where we’re trying to fight to get back into first place. It’s two points we really need. We can’t let the emotions get in the way.”
That might be easier said than done, for a group of players who almost to a man have been teammates at one point or another coming through the Okotoks minor hockey ranks.
“It’s bragging rights in Okotoks, they’re buddies growing up playing together, playing against each other for a lot of years,” Kobelka said. “There’s a friendly rivalry, it gets intense in the game, but hopefully they leave it on the ice.”
Battling a seemingly never-ending list on the injured reserve Okotoks Black has dropped out of first into third place with one win in its past seven games.
“We’re playing with seven forwards and five defencemen our last two games,” Kobelka said. “We can’t seem to get everyone back and healthy at one time. It seems like it’s a gain one, lose two type of model we’re going through right now.
“We might not be winning as much as we like, but we’re in every game.”
Their counterparts have been rather Jekyll and Hyde in recent weeks. Out of league play, Okotoks Green (10-14-4) has been strong. Within the SCAHL, not as much. Okotoks snapped a three-game losing streak Friday in a 5-2 win over the winless Cranbrook Dynamiters.
“We’ve been really up and down,” Williams said. “We went to a tournament in Regina, a highly competitive tournament, and did exceedingly well. We went 3-1 and ended up losing to the eventual champions in the semifinal.
“We came off a big high there, the boys had their diplomas that next week and then we needed to hit a reset button. We will see how we come out of it.”
The team’s leading scorer doesn’t need any kind of reset.
Alternate captain Brandt Black, whose climbed into the top-five in league scoring with 40 points in 27 games, is finding the net with regularity alongside prolific linemates Evan Woods and captain Shawn Grobowsky.
“The kid is just a natural goal scorer,” Williams said. “He’s not going to be a guy that stick handles through seven guys, but he’s got arguably the hardest shot I’ve ever seen at this level. He’s got a Junior A shot. At this level it catches goalies off guard.
“He’s got some pretty dynamic linemates … Those three really click and play the game at such a high speed.”
The brief hiatus will see the squad take the week off prior to its two league games, a Feb. 11 tilt with the CNHA Canucks on home-ice followed by the rivalry bout the following evening. Okotoks Black takes on the Medicine Hat Hounds on the road on Feb. 11.
Puck-drop for the all-Okotoks battle is 6:30 p.m. at Murray Arena.
For the latest results go to scahl.com/midget
