A theme emerged on a night of celebration for the Carstar Okotoks Bisons.
That of falling in love with the game again.
Okotoks recognized its players at the 2024-25 team awards banquet on April 11 at D’Arcy Ranch Golf Club with head coach Brad Cobb and his staff earning major plaudits for fostering a positive environment.
“It speaks volumes about the character and integrity of the coaching staff we have when kids say you made me fall in love with the game again,” said Bisons GM Trevor McFarlane. “Forgot about the wins, the losses, when a program has individuals like we have here that provide an opportunity for kids whether they’re coming from AA, AAA, Jr. A, some of them come and they’re hating the game, some of them come and Brad had to pull them off a couch to come play and say give us a try.”
Cobb, assistant coach Trevor Bueckert along with longtime trainer Dr. Lorne Dielissen have seen the program win three championships in four seasons with this playoff ending a streak of three-straight titles as runner-ups in 2024-25 in the Heritage Junior Hockey League.
It goes beyond the record on the ice, McFarlane noted in his banquet speech.
“At the end of it, they’re smiling again. We had dads this year thank us because they haven’t seen their kid smile so much in so many years; that to me is what this program is all about,” he said.
“Yes, we won and want to win, we have a great record, 20 league finals in 40 years, 14 championships, 10 provincial medals, but when I see individuals come out of this program with purpose, with direction in their own lives, that to me is the greatest success of all and that is a huge thank you to the coaching staff.”
Captain Jake Snashall, a fourth-year Bison, said his journey with the team followed a similar path.
“I quit hockey for five months, not doing much with my life and I just got invited out to a practice and I’ve been here ever since,” he said. “It’s the story of my life with the Bisons and I think it is with a lot of these guys, bringing back the game, having fun and most of all the support in the dressing room.
“You really see it in Jr. B, if you want to call us that, just how important every one of these guys is to me and these coaches. They’ve done everything they ever could for us, Cobb, Buecks, they’re like second parents to me, second dads, I can’t say enough good things about them.”
Snashall, one of four graduating players along with Caden Scott, Kegan Law and Adam Kirkpatrick, said winning comes from all of the little things.
“We’ve won it three times, we’ve done it all, really done everything,” he said. “It sucks to go out on a loss, but I’ve really done everything I ever could in this league. I couldn’t be more happy for me, Kirky, Lawsy and Scotty and even the new guys this year, I feel like I played with them for four years.”
Snashall took home the President’s Trophy, Leadership Award and Heart, Pride, Sacrifice Award on Friday.
Scott, a fleet-footed blueliner, won the Regular Season MVP and Top Defenceman honours with fellow rearguard Law earning the Top Defensive Player recognition and Kirkpatrick’s two-way game recognized as the Plus Minus Award winner.
As for the players eligible to return, Snashall said he’s advising them to play hockey as long as they can.
“One day it ends,” he said. “And it’s done in the blink of an eye.”
Jakob Semeniuk, Okotoks’ Most Improved Player, is planning to return in the fall after a strong sophomore season with 10 goals and 20 points.
“It means a lot,” Semeniuk said. “From last year to this year, I think I took my game to a better level, I fit in more in the lineup with last year being more in and out.
“The coaches had a lot of trust in me this year and it’s great to feel that trust and it gave me that bit of confidence.”
Semeniuk, who played on a relentless line flanked by wingers Ty Russell and Joel Burrows down the stretch, said he made his biggest strides in the playoffs.
“At the start of the year we were finding lineups and I got in a groove with some guys and stuck with them and the success carried throughout the season,” he said. “Playing on the fourth line with some big guys, the stress was off me, and I could just play good hockey.”
Okotoks will look to climb back to the peak of the HJHL in 2025-26 and pick up a little revenge on the reigning champion Sylvan Lake Wranglers along the way.
“I think we’re going to have a good summer, enjoy the time off and really get ready for next year,” Semeniuk said. “I think some of us will be disappointed and want to get a little revenge back and that will be fun.”
Award Winners
President’s Trophy – Jake Snashall
Most Improved – Jakob Semeniuk
Most Dedicated – Owen McFarlane
Heart, Pride, Sacrifice – Jake Snashall
Leadership Award – Jake Snashall
Most Sportsmanlike – Jady Shigehiro
Rookie of the Year – Connor White
Top Defenceman – Caden Scott
Top Defensive Player – Kegan Law
Perseverance, No Guts, No Glory – Caden Scott, Hunter Cobb
Hardest Working Bison – Seamus Garagan
Plus Minus Award – Adam Kirkpatrick
Scoring Champion – Sam Callahan
Regular Season MVP – Caden Scott
Playoff MVP – Sam Callahan
Mosby Scholarships – Ty Russell, Adam Kirkpatrick, Easton Dean, Hunter Cobb, Trevor Bonham, Caden Scott
Academic Achievement – Ty Russell
Volunteer of the Year - Dan Dumanski
