Two long-time foes put their rivalry aside to honour a member of the Junior B family.
On an afternoon honouring a fallen Okotoks Bison at the Zak Johns Memorial Game both the home team and the Cochrane Generals wore the number nine of the former co-captain on their helmets as the ultimate show of respect between the Heritage Junior Hockey League combatants.
“They actually asked if they could do that,” said Bisons head coach Mike Hannigan. “They mentioned that Johnsy was one of their nemesis, that their players knew him and the players wanted to become involved and put the number on.
“Very classy. There has been a rivalry there with a lot of respect for a lot of years.”
Johns, a four-year Bison, died in June in a motorcycle accident near Champion at the age of 22. The pre-game ceremony brought back dozens of former teammates of the popular athlete as well as his parents Lyall and Patti and his sister Kim.
“The message was we’re a family and a member of our family was lost to us,” Hannigan said. “But just look in the stands at all the other players who have played in this organization. It shows that they can be part of this family too and it starts by coming together.
“It meant a lot to all of them. It shows the community, it shows how far reaching this organization has been for a lot of kids, a lot of players.”
Bisons president Mike Parsons stated Johns is to be posthumously inducted into the team’s Wall of Fame. Okotoks announced it would wear Johns’ number nine on its helmets and a Johnsy patch on its jerseys while Cochrane volunteered to do the same on its helmets for the remainder of the season.
“At the end of the day everybody is a young kid that plays,” said Generals head coach Dan Gendur. “It’s very unfortunate what happened to Zak. I know he was a thorn in our side for many years, but there is still a mutual respect between everyone that plays.
“We felt like we should honour him as well. It was actually our leaders’ idea, they have a lot respect for him.”
Riding an emotional high from the ceremony, the home team came out with some its best hockey. Skating against the best team in the league through 17 games, they needed to.
“It was super emotional. It brought back some old feelings,” said Bisons alternate captain Robbie McLean. “We were excited to play in front of the Johns family and all the Bisons family and play with some pride.”
Second-year forward Tyler Rohl got the crowd on its feet less than two minutes from puck-drop as he used a head of steam to get to the front of the net and tuck in a backhand shot.
Despite the strong start, the momentum would prove short lived.
The most dynamic offence in the loop got to work as the rangy Slater Ransom opened the floodgates followed shortly by tallies from Talus Hume and Chad Harrison to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage.
“The first 10 minutes were definitely some of the best hockey we’ve played all year,” Hannigan said. “You get off that high and reality catches up and they did the best they could. There was a lot of emotion on the bench.”
The Bisons came out flying again to start the middle stanza and would cut the deficit in half when Justin Russo was in the right place at the right time for a rebound marker.
The Generals responded in kind by lighting the lamp three more times in the frame, making the most of their ample opportunities on the man-advantage.
McLean added a highlight reel shorthanded goal early in the third period, but the result was never truly in doubt for the top team in the South.
“They capitalized, they were really good at finishing their chances,” McLean said. “We need to bear down, get some bounces going our way and I’m sure we will be up again soon.”
Okotoks opened the weekend by being stung in the Snake Pit.
The visiting Bisons fell 4-1 to the Coaldale Copperheads in a lopsided South Division grudge-match on Nov. 5.
The Bisons losing streak hit the four game mark following the weekend as they fell closer to the .500 mark at 8-7 on the campaign.
“We need to get some goals and curb our penalty minutes,” the coach added. “We’ve taken way too many penalties. The last three games it pretty much cost us. We need to figure out how we can stop that from happening.”
The herd take to the road for a pair of out of division dates this weekend. Okotoks is in Didsbury on Remembrance Day to battle the defending league champion Mountainview Colts and returns north two days later to take on the Red Deer Vipers.
Okotoks’ next home game is Nov. 18 versus the Ponoka Stampeders.
For more information go to okotoksbisons.com
