Rust never sleeps but then again neither did the Okotoks Raiders.
Combating a three-week layoff the Raiders have seemingly done the impossible and avoided any signs of rink rust as the Jr. A club has earned a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-seven Alberta championship over the Calgary Mountaineers.
“We weren’t looking back on the season and started fresh out of playoffs when we had a few weeks off with down time and time to work hard on ourselves and keep ourselves game ready,” said Raiders alternate captain Kade McCormick, from High River. “It’s just keeping our emotions up and not giving up on our final goal and that’s a Minto Cup championship.”
It pays to have a plan and stick to it.
Okotoks, the top seed in the RMLL regular season with a 19-1 record, earned a bye through to the championship series. Calgary swept Saskatchewan to advance to the final.
“Coaches definitely led that, making us work hard,” McCormick added. “Our leadership group did a good job of sticking to it and the entire team did a good job of following behind.”
The Raiders took advantage of home floor in the first two games, putting up 13 goals in each and winning by 13-8 and 13-10 scores, respectively.
Captain Travis Getz had six points in each victory.
Okotoks took the stranglehold in the series with the 13-8 triumph in Game 3 at the Peppardome.
The veteran-laden Mounties staved off elimination on Monday in a 12-9 thriller on their home floor.
“We were just playing for each other,” said Mounties defender and Okotokian Ryan McLean after Game 4. “There are 13 guys that could potentially have not played another game of junior after tonight. We were doing it for every other guy on the team.
“We’re looking to build off this one tonight and bring it back to Game 7.”
Game 5 of the series shifts back to the Raiders’ Max Bell Centre on Aug. 2 at 8 p.m. If necessary, Game 6 would be Aug. 5 at Stu Peppard at 3 p.m. and Game 7 on Aug. 10 at 7 p.m.
The winner of the series moves straight through to the Minto Cup Championship held this year in Brampton, Ont.
“We’ve got to work for it. They’re an excellent team and we’ve got to play a full 60 minutes,” McCormick said. “We’re going to be challenged and it’s great we’re getting challenges along the way.
“It’s hard going up 3-0 in a series and keeping your heads intense.”
For more information on the series go to rockymountainlax.com
