The Okotoks Jr. B Bisons left no doubt as to who watches the throne in Southern Alberta.
The Bisons charged through the Red Deer Vipers in a three-game sweep to extend their run to three straight Heritage Junior B Hockey League championships.
As league finalists, both the Bisons and Vipers had already qualified for the Junior B provincials, April 4 to 7 in Wainwright, a fact that did little to take the luster off the Bisons’ consecutive perfect postseason runs.
“You’re looking at a team that’s 11-0 two years in a row in playoff action, a three-peat on the big trophy. We’re proud of everything, there’s not one trophy or one accomplishment we overlook,” said Bisons general manager Jay McFarlane. “We deserved the win, we’re going through the front door to provincials.”
The Bisons clinched the sweep after fighting off an inauspicious opening frame to turn a tight contest into an 8-3 rout, Monday night at the Murray Arena in Okotoks.
Following a scoreless first period in which the Bisons whiffed on four powerplay opportunities, the hosts sent the crowd into a frenzy with a quick strike offence with three goals in the first five minutes of the second period.
Jordan Eddy opened the scoring on a smooth deflection off an innocent looking point shot from Tyson Arnholtz 2:46 into the frame. Jeremy Smith doubled the lead when he had acres of space on the powerplay to bury a rebound past Red Deer’s Brenden Mandrusiak. With the industrial goal horn still buzzing through the arena, rookie Zak Johns made it 3-0 just 13 seconds later.
The resilient Vipers would not go gently into that good night. Following a timeout after the third Bisons’ goal, Red Deer’s Kolton Gillett answered right back scoring just 13 seconds after the previous tally.
After Bisons rookie Dylan Boyd was steamrolled by Viper Justin Corbett, linemate Joel Van der Velden stepped up and challenged the Red Deer player.
Though the Vipers made it a one-goal game through a Jeff Kohut tally on the subsequent instigator minor assessed to Van der Velden, McFarlane said the show of brotherhood was a major turning point in the tilt.
“Dropping the mitts to protect his teammate is something I recognize right away,” McFarlane said.
“We never looked back after that.”
Spencer Samuel swung the momentum back to Okotoks with a powerplay marker that would hold up as the game-winner late in a wild second period.
In the final frame, Johns would add his second of the game on a snapshot from the right hashmark, followed by quick tallies from Red Deer’s Ryan Thomson and Okotoks’ Dillon Loomer. Zach Baba added an empty net goal, followed by a Chase Fallis tally for extra insurance in the waning moments.
“Of all the games to step up this is the one,” said Johns, a freshman forward from Okotoks, of his two-goal game. “It’s the greatest feeling as a rookie to contribute actually to the win.
“It’s amazing. The most significant year to win is as a rookie or in your last year. It feels great, you can only look up from here.”
Fellow-rookie Alex Bilton was steady as ever in goal, picking up his second win of the series.
The Bisons found the antidote to the Vipers’ bite from the outset of the series. Okotoks took advantage of home ice in Game 1, outlasting the visiting Vipers 7-4 on Friday night.
Loomer paced the Bisons with one goal and four points, Dylan Griep chipped in with three helpers from the blueline while Samuel and Baba contributed two goals each. Bilton stopped 35 of 39 shots on goal.
The following night in Red Deer the Bisons switched roles and fought off a one-goal deficit in the second period to win 4-3.
Three powerplay goals from Red Deer’s Gillett, Jonathan Finnigan and Travis Mayan gave the Vipers a 3-2 advantage midway through the middle frame. Samuel tied it at 3-3 before the second intermission and Phil Dillon continued his impressive playoffs by notching the game-winner with 4:57 remaining in the contest. Eddy and Loomer scored earlier for the Bisons, who were backstopped by a 31-save performance from Tyler Hughes.
Vipers head coach Stephen Pattison said the Bisons were full value for the sweep, noting the Game 2 loss was the turning point in the series.
“They’re an excellent team through and through and they capitalized on our mistakes,” Pattison said. “Game 2 stung a little bit, we were up that one goal and then in the third period was tight and one mistake cost us the game.”
For Okotoks, the focus shifts quickly northward to Wainwright for the upcoming Junior B provincials.
Okotoks won the silver medal on home ice at last year’s provincials, losing out to the champion Whitecourt Wolverines.
“We were there last year and it doesn’t matter if you sweep the playoffs, you still have to play the best teams in Alberta,” Fallis said. “Being there last year and losing, everyone remembers that feeling still and no one wants to go through it again.
“Everyone wants it that much more.”
The Bisons are seeking their first provincial banner, while Red Deer has twice lifted the provincial trophy, in 2004 and 2006.
For the full provincial schedule find the provincials tab on hockeyalberta.ca.
