Written by Coach Curran
The Drumheller Dragons were on the road last weekend on Friday in Spruce Grove and on Sunday in Okotoks. They were coming off a great 5-2 victory against the Oilers the previous Wednesday.
SPRUCE GROVE
The Grant Fuhr arena has not been kind to the Dragons over the last several years, as 2007 was the last time we had won in their building. This night, however, was about goaltender Hunter Virostek who has played some of his best hockey in his last two starts. He lead the team to a 1-0 lead over Spruce Grove, earning his first AJHL shutout. Chad Hurtubise had the lone goal of the game.
I thought the boys played hard against a very good team. They seemed to build after every key save that Virotek stopped. They were blocking shorts and doing whatever it took to keep the 1-0 lead. We need our goalies to be big for us and in the last few games both of our goalies have played very well.
OKOTOKS
After a tough game in Spruce Grove the Dragons travelled to Okotoks to face the Oilers for the fourth time in two weeks. However on this night the Oilers played a complete game and their powerplay did the damage. The Dragons started off well and trailed 2-1 after the first period. There were a couple bounces that just didn't go our way to give the Oilers their first two goals. The second and third periods, however, were a different story as the Oilers deserved the 5-1 win.
I thought after the first period we were right there and I expected us to come out and pick up our pace. But give the Oilers credit, they are a very good team and they were the ones to pick up the pace instead. We made several bad clearing plays from our zone and it cost us. Our goaltending has been very strong as of late but as a group we need to make better decisions with the pick in our zone as the turnovers we're causing are hurting us.
The team has been going through some tough times with injuries and a very bad flu that mae it's way through the locker room. I can see the energy levels of the boys down a bit, but I hope to see them all on the ice in the next few days.
Photo by Broken Curfew Photography