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Copperheads pull off reverse sweep of Bisons

Once they were in the clutches of the Copperheads they couldn’t quite escape. The Coaldale Copperheads pulled off the near impossible with four straight wins to erase a 3-0 series deficit and eliminate the Okotoks Jr.
Okotoks Bisons defence Jaret Bordt takes a shot on the Coaldale Copperheads goal during game 7 against the Copperheads on Feb. 26.
Okotoks Bisons defence Jaret Bordt takes a shot on the Coaldale Copperheads goal during game 7 against the Copperheads on Feb. 26.

Once they were in the clutches of the Copperheads they couldn’t quite escape.

The Coaldale Copperheads pulled off the near impossible with four straight wins to erase a 3-0 series deficit and eliminate the Okotoks Jr. B Bisons from the playoffs following Sunday’s 6-4 win in Game 7 at Murray Arena.

“Going down 3-0 we had to keep our heads,” said Copperheads forward Calvin Swanson. “We lost two in OT, lost the first one by one goal. We were right there and knew that we had them.

“It was just a rough start.”

Okotoks potted the uber-important first goal of the winner-take-all when Josh McCulloch found twine on the powerplay just over three minutes into the contest.

Before they could announce the goal to the boisterous supporters, the Snakes had snuck their way back into an even game when Austin Huculak answered just 34 seconds later.

Tyler Anderson briefly put the visitors in front late in the frame before Kyle Becker fired through a screen for Okotoks’ second goal on the man advantage of the period.

A quiet middle frame saw a late twist as Copperheads defenceman Logan McKay found himself alone in the slot to bury a rebound over Okotoks’ Matthew McDonald with just 10 seconds on the clock.

“I thought the guys were ready to go. I thought we played hard and it didn’t work out,” said Bisons captain Mark McLeod. “Guys were ready. We got the first goal, but they’re a good team, too. They competed hard.”

Coaldale then took a firm grip on the lead when Jayden Smith picked the pocket of a Bisons defenceman and fired it into the back of the net just 57 seconds into the final stanza.

Matt Nadeau made it a three-goal advantage in short order. Okotoks defenceman Bradley Whitehead and Coaldale’s Levi Anderson then exchanged goals on slap shots from the point.

McLeod added a late consolation marker with 26 seconds on the clock, but the result was never truly in doubt as Coaldale capped off the dramatic comeback to eliminate Okotoks from the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

“They were ready to go,” said Bisons head coach Mike Hannigan of his team. “They drained everything, they did everything they could.”

The Snakes put an exclamation point on its Game 6 victory on home ice, a 5-1 win paced by a four-goal middle frame on Saturday. Game 5 on Feb. 24 in Okotoks saw a first in the series.

Coaldale scored three unanswered to take a 5-2 victory, the first win in the best-of-seven set by more than one goal.

The Copperheads turned the game on a dime through late second period markers from Swanson and Levi Anderson. McKay added an empty-netter to ice the result.

Tudor and Becker scored in the loss.

The Bisons squandered the first chance to wrap up the series Feb. 21 on the road.

Levi Anderson scored 3:36 into overtime to keep the Snakes alive in the 5-4 victory.

Tudor scored twice, the latter a shorthanded tying marker in the final minute of regulation, while McLeod and Whitehead rounded out the scoring.

“When your back is up against the wall that’s when you’re your most dangerous,” Swanson added. “We proved that four games straight.

“It’s the little things you build off. Blocking shots, taking hits to make plays. We just thrived off that the last four games.”

Once momentum swung the way of the Snakes it was nearly impossible to wrestle it back.

“It’s tough to pick out any one moment in particular. We just didn’t seem to get any luck after Game 3,” McLeod said. “We had a lot of it the first three games and it just dried up.

“It only takes one goal for (momentum) to go the other way. We had it at the start, they took it the rest of the series.”

Compounding matters for the herd was a few serious knocks.

Regular season leading scorers Becker and McCulloch, who was forced to sit out Game 5, were hamstrung with injuries during the marathon seven-game set.

“We had a couple kids with serious injuries who were still trying to play,” said Hannigan. “Our top two scorers were injured. That didn’t really help.”

The South Division slugfest was the most tightly contested second-round series. The Cochrane Generals made quick work of the Banff Academy Bears in a four-game sweep. In the North, the defending champion Mountainview Colts eclipsed the Blackfalds Wranglers in five while the other best-of-seven set saw the Red Deer Vipers upset the second-seed Airdrie Thunder in six.

For the latest playoff information go to heritagejunior.com


Remy Greer

About the Author: Remy Greer

Remy Greer is the assistant editor and sports reporter for westernwheel.ca and the Western Wheel newspaper. For story tips contact [email protected]
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