The road-weary Lloydminster Bobcats were able to close out their trek with a victory before once again boarding the bus for home.
As heard on 96.5 The Ranch, the Bobcats pulled away from the Grizzlys in the second period en route to a 5-1 triumph in Olds on Wednesday night.
Two of the three wins that Lloydminster collected on a lengthy Alberta Junior Hockey League road trip occurred at the SportsComplex. The Bobcats (22-18-1-3) also won 5-2 in Olds on January 31st. They went 3-4 and now head back to Lloydminster to face off with the Camrose Kodiaks (25-12-2-4) on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlys have now dropped seven in a row. Their last two point night was a 3-2 shootout win over the Kodiaks in Olds on January 21st.
This loss for the Black & Gold comes on the heels of their Captain moving on to the British Columbia Hockey League. It was announced this week that Connor Seeley (2005) has left Olds to join the Coquitlam Express. Grizzlys Head Coach Brad Tobin says “yeah, I think he had a few conversations throughout the year about moving to that league. Never kind of took it, he thought wanted to stay here and see how it went but the opportunity arose at the BCHL (trade) deadline. I think it was an opportunity he couldn’t say no to. You know, I wish him all the best moving forward into this year and onto next. I think for the team we are losing a pretty strong leader. A guy that was kind of the voice of the team throughout the whole season. Even when he was injured and that he was still the guy that was talking quite a bit. So I think for us it is going to be a pretty big loss, moving forward here.” The 19-year-old from West Kelowna had 10 goals and 22 points in 30 games for the Grizzlys in 2024-2025. Three of his ten goals were game winners and he also had a shootout winning goal this season. Seeley is the fourth player the Grizzlys have lost to the BCHL since December and in each case, because it is a league that is not sanctioned by Hockey Canada, Olds receives zero compensation in return. Antonio Bevacqua (2006), Mitch Patrick (2006), and Quinn Abbott (2005) had previously headed west from the Grizzlys to the BCHL.
Wednesday’s loss to the Bobcats was the start of an exceptionally busy segment of the regular season for Olds. The Grizzlys will go to Canmore (30-11-4-1) for their next game on Friday. On Saturday, they will host the Calgary Canucks (29-11-2-2) and live coverage can be heard on 96.5 The Ranch. Then on Family Day Monday it is off to Drumheller to battle the Dragons (26-16-2-0).
The Grizzlys have ten games left this season and eight of those will be played on the road. They were officially eliminated from playoff contention last weekend when they lost 5-3 in Camrose. Olds is sixth in the South Division 25 points back of the Dragons who currently occupy the Division’s fourth and final playoff spot.
Listen to 96.5 The Ranch’s pre-game conversation with Brad Tobin.
The Ranch also sat down with Matt Brassard, Assistant Coach of the Lloydminster Bobcats.
