Mirror image squads clash in league final

After overcoming its long-time playoff foil the, Okotoks Oilers have a date with the kings in the North.

Okotoks meets the North Division champion Spruce Grove Saints when the green-and-gold’s first trip to the Alberta Junior Hockey League championship round gets underway Friday at Pason Centennial Arena.

“It’s going to be even harder than the last series, nothing gets easier here,” said Oilers head coach Tyler Deis. “I know we’ve had some success against them, but their goalie (Nolan Kent) didn’t play against us and he will in this series.

“It’s going to be another great series here going down and I think it’s going be a long one.”

While Okotoks is fresh off a grueling six-game set with the two-time defending champion Brooks Bandits, the Saints enter the series with an unblemished playoff record.

“They’re probably a little healthier than we are, but at the end of the day when you get down to this time – you just try and give yourself the best chance,” Deis said. “The focus, the discipline, all the little things. You just want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself mentally and physically.”

Following a first-round bye as the top-seed in the North, Spruce Grove bounced the Grande Prairie Storm in four games and then unceremoniously swept the Whitecourt Wolverines in the third-round.

“We’ve done a pretty good job limiting scoring chances from our opponents,” said Saints head coach Bram Stephen. “We’ve had different game plans for different opponents and our guys have done a pretty good job adapting to different styles of play because Grande Prairie and Whitecourt play completely different ways and we’ve been pretty good on special teams.”

The matchup in goal should be terrific.

Saints netminder Nolan Kent missed significant time in the regular season, but is making up for lost time in the post-season with four shutouts in eight games. AJHL Top Goaltender award winner Riley Morris was stellar in Okotoks’ South Final triumph over Brooks with a .954 save percentage.

“It will be a really good match-up,” Stephen said. “Kent is very competitive and Morris looks that way too. The similar strengths that they have, they track the puck well, they’re able to recover for second saves and they both seem very consistent. It will be a good test for both teams to put the puck in the net.”

The series features two of the top blueline groups in the province along with considerable offensive firepower. AJHL MVP and scoring champion Chris Van Os-Shaw leads a high-octane Saints attack that also features Parker Saretsky, Josh Harris and trade-deadline acquisition Chase Olsen.

Okotoks’ Tanner Laderoute leads the playoff scoring race with 15 points, Carter Huber has 14 while the defence pair of Nick Blankenburg and Jacob Bernard-Docker have combined for 20 points.

“They’ve got kind of the same players and character of players as we do,” said Oilers defenceman Carson Beers. “It’s going to be a tough test. They’ve got the top scorer (Van Os-Shaw), we’re going to have to find a way to shut him down. They also picked up Chase Olsen who we played against in Olds for a long time. He’s a quality player as well and they’ve found some chemistry real fast.

“It’s going to be a tough time to stop their top line, but I feel like we’ve got the guys in the room that can do it.”

The numbers tell a similar story.

The Saints were second in the league to the Oilers in both goals for and goals against. The goal differential between the squads is just 14 over the course of the 60-game regular season.

“They pursue the game really hard, they play a tough style. We just need to do our best to keep up with the number one team in the country,” Stephen added. “We’re just hoping to keep pace, all the pressure is on them.”

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