There was excitement in the air Friday night at the Casman Centre as the Fort McMurray Oil Barons welcomed the Olds Grizzlys to town for an annual game that means so much more than just hockey.
The Teddy Bear Toss in support of Santas Anonymous is a game that the entire community looks forward to, when that first goal is scored, hundreds of stuffed animals come hurling onto the ice that will be picked up and donated to families and children this holiday season.
The Oil Barons (22-4-2) gave their fans a lot to cheer about as they shutout the Grizzlys (11-18-1) with a dominating 5-0 performance backstopped by a 35 save shutout from rookie netminder Chris Curr.
“We’re a community owned team that relies on people coming to our games and supporting our team in a variety of ways and it’s just as important for us to have our players as involved in the community as we can because I think we owe it to the community. When we’re recruiting players to come to Fort McMurray we tell them this is more than just being a hockey player, this is about being a good father, a good husband, a good friend and this is one of the events that we like to get behind,” said MOB Head Coach Tom Keca on the importance of the organization being involved in the annual Teddy Bear Toss.
“It’s great when that first goal falls and all of those teddy bears come down on the ice and you see all of the kids from Father Mercredi come out that have put in a lot of work over the last month and they get to clean it up so it just gives you a good feeling.”
Fans didn’t have to wait long to throw their bears as the Oil Barons struck just past the mid-way point of the first period. Merritt Oszytko broke down the right wing and danced around his defender before spotting Will Conley wide open on the far post. Conley made no mistake, burying his league leading 23rd goal of the season and making it rain teddy bears.
The MOB doubled their lead while shorthanded in the second period as Shane Fraser got in behind the Grizzly defence and beat Josh Brindza over the blocker hand.
The goal was nearly identical to the one Fraser would score in the third period as again the MOB captain got in alone on the penalty kill to bury his second shorthanded goal of the game and put the MOB up 3-0 forty-two seconds into the frame.
“Well what happens with an individual like Shane is you just start taking him for granted because you know what you’re going to get and he is undoubtedly the leader of our group both on the ice the way he plays, he’s not a huge vocal individual but he’s an individual when he does speak guys go holy smokes this is serious,” said Keca of his captain who now has 8 goals on the year.
An aggressive forecheck from Jarred White would result in the Oil Barons fourth goal as the puck came out to newly acquired Peter Tomaras who beat Brindza through the legs for his first goal as an Oil Baron.
“These are the types of efforts that we can build on and move forward and I thought more importantly there was a conscious effort on our bench. I tried to say less and have the players say more. We eliminated a lot of the turnovers that dogged us (Thursday) and we got pucks in deep when we should’ve and structurally we were better so this is defiantly a much better effort for our hockey club,” said Keca.
The MOB would add another goal late when Oszytko banked home his 15th of the year on a powerplay when the puck bounced off the end boards right to his stick at the side of the goal.
“These are the types of wins that are a lot sweeter because everybody contributed. We had offence from a lot of different players, our defence played well, our goaltender was solid so it makes for a better night,” said a delighted Keca after the game.
Chris Curr picked up his 7th win of the season in goal and made 16 saves in the third period to record his first career AJHL shutout.
“He’s a very quiet individual, he’s very sound technically and really we have a 1A and a 1B situation here which is great,” said Keca of his goaltenders. “It’s such a luxury to have as a coaching staff when you can give him (Eric Szudor) an opportunity to rest and you’re not really missing a beat in there so it was good for him to not only get the win but the shutout as well.”
The MOB will next be in action Thursday night when they welcome the Lloydminster Bobcats to the Casman Centre. The Drumheller Dragons will make their lone trip north on Friday.
NOTES:
The AJHL roster cutdown came and went with the MOB making one move. Trading forward Tyler Petrie to the Calgary Canucks. Petrie had 2 goals and 6 points in 23 games with the MOB.
Will Conley had a strong game with a goal and 3 assists in the win. Conley sits 7th in AJHL scoring with 23 goals and 32 points in 28 games. Ryan Conroy added 2 assists in the win and now has 5 in his last 3 games. The two shorthanded goals from Shane Fraser gave the Oil Barons three in their last two games. The MOB lead the AJHL in shorthanded goals with six while the Grizzlys have allowed a league worst 14.
MOB Head Coach Tom Keca on the Country 93.3 Post-Game Show
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