As a fierce blizzard hit central Alberta, the Storm swept into Town and secured a win over the Grizzlys thanks to a flurry of action around the net in the third period.
A pair of goals in a span of one minute and eleven seconds turned a 1-all tie into a 3-1 lead for Grande Prairie. Forwards Cole Kronewitt (2007) from Stony Plain had gone 11 games without a goal but he netted his second of the season at 3:24 and then Colin Doherty (2005) from Sherwood Park at 4:35 scored what stood up as the game winner. It was Doherty’s team leading 15th goal of the year.
Forward Presley Kerner (2007) from Kelowna, B.C. had got the Grizzlys back to level at 13:21 of the second period after Rylan Bissett’s (2007 from Chetwynd, B.C.) power play marker for G.P. at 10:13 had been the lone goal of the first period.
With the net empty and the extra attacker out, defenceman Owen Hutzul (2006) from Edmonton made it a one goal game by striking the back of the net for his first tally against his former team. Hutzul was acquired a recent trade that sent forward Braeden Veldhuizen from Olds to the Storm. Hutzul had 1 goal and 4 assists in 22 games for G.P. He has 2 goals in 5 games since starting to wear Black & Gold.
Goaltender Connor Johnson (2006) from Calgary made a series of saves worthy of consideration for the AJHL Play of the Week among his 37 total stops on Wednesday, December 17th for Olds. Leland Gill kicked out 25 shots from the Grizzlys to earn his 11th victory of the season for Grande Prairie.
The Grande Prairie Storm (17-10-0-1) started their road trip with a 4-1 triumph over the Dragons in Drumheller on Tuesday. They stayed there overnight and were able to safely travel to the Town of Olds after the worst of the hazardous road conditions had cleared in the late afternoon. Assistant Coach/Goaltending Coach Brandon Wells says “yeah, we were kind of sitting at the hotel there around 2 o’clock not really knowing if we were going to get out of Drumheller, so we wound up getting our pre-game meal delivered to the hotel. We ended up loading the bus at 3 o’clock and then we just slowly made our way here. I think got here about ten minutes before 5pm, so it all kind of worked out anyways.” The Storm visit Canmore on Friday and Calgary on Saturday.
Just one game is left before the holiday break for the Grizzlys (9-18-2-1). Flint Energy Night will start at 6pm on Saturday versus the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (16-9-4-1) at the Sportsplex and fans can get a free ticket online by using the code FLINT1220 at tickets.oldsgizzlys.ca. Free entry will also be possible with a cash donation to the Olds Christmas Angels Society or by bringing a non-perishable food item for the Mountain View Food Bank. See all the details on the Olds Grizzlys Facebook page.
Listen to 96.5 The Ranch’s pre-game conversation with Dylan Olsen, Assistant Coach of the Olds Grizzlys.
The Ranch also had this chat with Brandon Wells, Assistant Coach and Goaltending Coach of the Grande Prairie Storm.
