Moving on
Moving on
Posted By Fort McMurray Today
Posted 4 years ago
The Fort McMurray Oil Barons entered familiar territory Wednesday night when they advanced to the Alberta Junior Hockey League?s championship series with a 3-2 win in Brooks, completing a four-game sweep of the Bandits.
Every year since 2004 the MOB have contended for a championship, but they are now hoping the third time will be lucky after a pair of finals losses to Grande Prairie two years ago and against Camrose in 2005.
?I don?t think the guys are feeling that they are due,? said coach Gord Thibodeau following last night?s game. ?But there?s a feeling that they have to go out and grab it. The big difference for us this year is we have home ice. We didn?t have that in the previous two years and that?s awfully tough when you get up against a very good hockey team. So that was part of what we wanted to do this year -- get home ice and put ourselves in a position so we could take a crack at it.?
The memory of the loss to the Storm two years may be faded and blurry, but there are few veterans on the team who can?t forget last year?s heartbreaking defeat to the Kodiaks. Holding the lead heading into the final period of Game 6 with a 3-2 series lead, Thibodeau?s team fell apart in the final 20 minutes, lost the contest and went on to lose the series in a seventh game in Camrose.
Thibodeau fully believes his current roster won?t become the Buffalo Bills of the AJHL. The Bills lost four straight championship games from 1990 to 1993.
?From the start (of the playoffs) we preached that we would get better the longer things went on and I think that is definitely holding true. We have now won five in a row and we are playing good hockey.?
Supporting cast
The exploits of captain Chevan Wilson, goalie Jimmy Bernier, league veteran Matt Lamirande and the trusted defensive core so far in these playoffs have been nothing short of tremendous, but it?s been the play of the third and fourth lines which is separating this team from those in the past.
Guys like Tyler Webb, Brent Upshall and last night Adam Manah have really stepped up to the plate. Manah?s second of the playoffs last night couldn?t have come at a better time and Upshall?s departure from being solely a finesse player to someone who can drop in an odd goal has garnered him a lot of attention.
?Lamirande and Wilson -- those guys have been unreal,? said the coach. ?But we needed some other guys to step up and we?ve gotten that from Webb?s line, and Manah?s line was outstanding (last night). Any game that those two lines have an impact on, it?s probably a good thing for us.?
Adam Manah?s second of the playoffs with 5:40 left in the third period served as the winner as the Fort McMurray Oil Barons won 3-2 Wednesday night in Brooks to complete a four-game sweep of the Bandits to be the first team to advance to the Alberta Junior Hockey League?s championships series.
Manah?s goal came after teammates Brent Upshall and Matt Lamirande tallied in the second and early parts of the third periods. Brooks had been held scoreless for almost six periods dating back to Game 3 of the series before Brennan Vancuren tied the game at one with 2:34 left in the middle frame. Jarrett Grandberg had the other goal for the Bandits, who can now look forward to golfing season.
In the other semifinal series, the Camrose Kodiaks and the Spruce Grove Saints were idle Wednesday. That tilt is now tied at two games apiece and will continue tonight in Spruce Grove.
