A runaway victory capped off a banner season.
The Okotoks U16 AA Oilers clinched the South Central Alberta Hockey League championship with a 10-0 romp over the Airdrie-Bow Valley Havoc in Game 2 of the best-of-three final, March 19 at Pason Centennial Arena.
“The boys came to play,” said Oilers U16 AA head coach Gabe Amyotte. “I stepped into my dressing room to do my pre-game speech and I felt the energy in the room and I told the boys ‘I didn’t have to do anything, they had it under control.’”
Nine skaters registered multi-point efforts and 14 got on the scoresheet in the comprehensive triumph.
Markus Vassell scored twice, Nolan Stewart, Curtiss Gordon, Brandon Gray, Jaden Rusznak, Nathan Johnstone, Jayden Flitton, Colton Urlacher and Isaac Cayetano all found the back of the net with Michael Makowsky registering the 21-save shutout.
“They played Saturday’s game the way we’ve played most games — physical, fast, we transitioned quickly, we had puck possession,” the coach added.
“That was our game all year and we just never let up and the score ended up being what it was.”
The series clincher was in stark contrast to the opener the night prior in Airdrie.
Overtime was needed as the Oilers edged the Havoc 3-2 with Cayetano netting the game-winner on the powerplay in the extra-session.
Brandon Gray and Blair Berger provided the other tallies for the visitors.
“I think there was a little more nerves there,” Amyotte said. “The boys understood that in this series there was a banner at the end of it and I think they were squeezing their sticks a little tighter than they needed to be.
“All credit to Airdrie in that first game, they came at us hard, they fore-checked hard, they were physical with us.
“It was almost a reversal of the roles between the two games.”
The Oilers produced a season to remember as the class of the U16 division, posting a league best 35-1-3 record, 254 goals for and 69 against.
The team boasted the top five scorers in the league in Rusznak, Alex McIsaac, Gray, Berger and Wyatt Olson.
The tandem of Makowsky and Joshua McCallum were also among the league leaders in all of the goaltending categories.
For the coach, it all starts with the commitment to the program.
“When we started in September, going through the tryout process we got close to our team and I set the philosophy for the team, the program for the team right off the hop,” he said.
“I let them know that this was how we were going to play and this is what the expectations were in terms of effort and attitude and held them accountable to that.
“And to a man, all 19 players bought in, there was very few issues on the team, everything was dealt with internally, they came together, the chemistry was built right away, they all get along fantastically and they played for each other all the way through.”
Okotoks will continue action this week against the Calgary NW Bruins in a best-of-three series against the top team out of the Calgary division starting March 25 at Okotoks’ Murray Arena.
“They’re a very good hockey team, they’ve got a very good goalie,” the coach added. “They play physical and there’s probably seven or eight guys on that team that can turn a game around real quick that are pretty talented.
“I’m looking forward to it and it will be a good test for our hockey club.”
For more information go to scahl.com