The Olds Grizzlys finished off a busy homestand of games this past week with 3 games against the Devon Xtreme, Canmore Eagles and Camrose Kodiaks. This was the Grizzlys last home game for a month as they hit the road until they’re back on home ice on February 13th!
On a midweek Tuesday night matchup the Devon Xtreme were in town for the final face-off of the season between the two. The Boys in Black & Gold were hungry for a win especially against the Xtreme who had an 0-3 record against the Grizz going into this game. With Corbin Sanderman making the start in net, the first period was underway. The Xtreme got the first tally 6 minutes into the game before Ryder Riedel would get a power play marker just a few minutes later to tie things up at 1 a piece. Less than 3 minutes later, Riedel would score another to gain the lead! With 6 seconds left in the first, Finn Bagley who got his first just the previous game would net another beautiful goal to gain a 3-1 lead going into the 2nd period! The 2nd was led by an Xtreme goal to get within one, before Ryder Riedel would cap off his hat trick to extend the lead to 4-2, with Sean Richards netting his 8th of the season on the power play. Devon would find the back of the net once more to cap off the 2nd period. The third was led off by Jordin St. Louis finding the back of the net for his 12th goal of his rookie campaign. The Xtreme would get 2 more to bring the score to 6-5, but that was all for the Grizzlys as they’d pick up their 10th win of the season. In a 35 save effort, Sanderman would stand tall as the Devon Xtreme would fall. The line of Riedel-St. Louis-Hoy would combine for 11 points, as Riedel had 3 goals and 1 assist, St. Louis had 1 goal and 3 assists, while Hoy had 3 assists. Owen Hutzul would capitalize on then high scoring game with 4 assists with his highest single game total of the season.
Finn Bagley earned Hardest Worker of the game while the line of Riedel-St. Louis-Hoy would earn Players of the Game for their huge effort.
The Canmore Eagles would be back in town for 6 O’ Clock Saturday for the first matchup of the weekend. Unfortunately, not much good came from this matchup, as the Grizzlys came short in an 5-0 loss to their divisional competitors. It was a string showing from the Grizz as they stayed competitive throughout the game, but took the shutout from the Eagles.
The next day it was the Battle of the Bears with the Camrose Kodiaks visiting the Olds Sportsplex. This would be the final time that the Kodiaks would visit Olds with the final meeting between the two being in Camrose. The first period ended tied up at one-a-piece when newcomer Noah Kelly would score his first goal in the Black & Gold. The second was almost identical as each team would score once more, with Kelly picking up his second of the game to keep things at 2. The 3rd period was one of the most tense periods of this season for the Grizzlys. Camrose struck on the powerplayto gain the lead, but just 43 seconds later, Ryder Riedel would find the back of the net on a shorthanded breakaway for his 9th goal of the season on his tying goal. Camrose would find the lead again. With 2 minutes and 30 seconds remaining, Presley Kerner would score to tie the game back up in this nail biter! Unfortunately, with less than a minute on the clock, Camrose would once again take the lead and this time, the Grizzlys wouldn’t get it back. Noah Kelly would pick up 2 goals in his first weekend in Olds, while Brody Martin and Finn Bagley would each pick up a pair of assists, and Presley Kerner would leave with a goal and an assist.
The Grizzlys will back on home ice on the Sportsplex on February 13th when the Bonnyville Pontiacs are in town for the final time this season.
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