The Okotoks Junior A Oilers’ players are about to get a lesson they can use when they attend university or college in the future.
That lesson is no matter how well you do during the regular classes, it will be a long summer if you bomb the final exam.

It’s up to their professor, Oilers head coach Garry VanHereweghe, to make sure his team is ready for the final exam — the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) playoffs — after a nearly two-week break.
The Oilers won’t hit the ice again until …

As president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge once said nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Black Diamond curler Gord MacLachlan knows that sentiment all too well. Since taking up curling after retirement 13 years ago, this is the first time MacLachlan has qualified for the Alberta Masters Curling Championship which will be held this weekend at the Highwood Curling Club in High River.
MacLachlan has come close to qualifying for provincial playdowns three times before but couldn’t get over the hump.
“You keep a positive (attitude) about it …

Although local players were shut out at the Yonex Alberta Series tournament at the Edison Badminton Centre in Okotoks the team’s coach called the tournament a success.
Billy Gilliland, a gold medal winner at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, said tournaments like the one the school hosted last weekend help promote awareness of the sport. Badminton is popular internationally, especially in Asia, but people are still looking for a place to play locally.
Gilliland said hosting the tournament achieved several things such as showcasing the Edison facility to the Calgary community and providing …

At the 11:15 mark of the first period an announcement came over the public address system at the Centennial Arena in Okotoks earlier this month to mark the crowning achievement in what has been an impressive, if unexpected Junior A career.
With his 26th goal of the season, Chris Duszynski became the Okotoks Oilers’ career points leader at 125 points. The Oilers went on to down the Royals 5-2 on Feb. 15 thanks to a goal that could serve as a metaphor for Duszynski’s career in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
“It …

You’re nobody until you’re somebody.
To be the champ, you have to beat the champ.
That’s the attitude the Medicine Hat Cubs are taking in their division final series against the Okotoks Bisons. Despite being the only Heritage Junior Hockey League squad to stop the Okotoks Bisons twice during the regular season, Dale Lanz, head coach of the Medicine Hat Cubs, believes Okotoks holds the upper hand.
“I don’t think there is any secret, we just happened to win couple of games,” said Lanz. “We are pretty evenly matched teams. They definitely have …

An Okotoks curler will likely have to win her final three matches to get into the playoffs of the Alberta Senior Women’s Curling championships.
Deb Miller of Okotoks has one win and three losses at the championships in Edmonton Feb. 17-21.
Miller picked up her first win at the championship when she downed Dorothy Trask of Fort St. John 11-3 in seven ends Thursday evening.
Miller took control of the match in the sixth end when she scored five to take an 8-3 lead. Trask was then faced to gamble in the seventh …

The Okotoks Oilers are saying hello to their first championship in their history and saying bye-bye to the opening round of the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The Oilers clinched the AJHL’s South Division when they blanked the Canmore Eagles 5-0 in Canmore Thursday.
The Okotoks’ victory gave the Oilers a 36-18-1-3 record (76 points).
Okotoks had the chance to clinch the title last night when the Bonnyville Pontiacs beat the Camrose Kodiaks 5-4 in Bonnyville Wednesday night.
The Kodiaks have 74 points with only one game left on their schedule. However, the Oilers …

The Okotoks Oilers can clinch their first regular season title by winning two of three games this week.
The Oilers moved into first place in the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s South Division by beating the Calgary Royals 5-2 Monday at the Centennial Arena.
The victory gave the Oilers 74 points. The second-place Camrose Kodiaks also have 74 points, but Okotoks has more wins.
The Oilers have three regular season games left while the Kodiaks have two remaining.
If Okotoks can clinch first-place it will give them a bye in the opening round of the …

A flock of Foothills Falcons has dropped in on the Okotoks Wrestling Club and they are making a habit of winning medals.
Okotoks wrestlers won four medals at the Highwood Mustang high school wrestling tournament on Friday and two of them came from a couple of grapplers from Foothills Composite who joined the club after exams in late January.

Dallas Toso, a Grade 10 student at the Comp, won the silver medal at 68kg. His lone loss came in the final against Matt Ferguson from Bowness High School, a high school …

An Okotoks Oiler rookie has proved his mettle by digging in the corners and getting his nose dirty in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. However, the six-foot-one, 200-pound Rhett Holland cowers when he gets a tongue-lashing from a five-foot-two, 105-pounder who wears a dress now and then.
Holland’s helper is Tara Epp, the learning strategies coordinator at Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) in Okotoks.
“We skipped mass one time and then Ms. Epp set us straight,” Holland said. “Garry (Oilers coach Garry VanHereweghe) heard about it and we got sat for the first …