New AMHL teams eliminated from playoff contention

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Last March, the Strathmore-based Foothills CFR Chemicals Bisons were two wins away from advancing to the Telus Cup.
Shortly after their playoff drive ended at the hands of the Leduc Chrysler Oil Kings, Hockey Alberta announced it was going to split the draw zone in half to accommodate Okotoks’ desire for a team, which allowed Airdrie to bring the Bisons back to the town they were carded out of, but never actually played a game there.
At the time of this upheaval, Bisons fans worried that by creating two teams from essentially the same draw zone, the talent would be weakened, and the same product would not be put on the ice.
One year into the new structure of the Alberta Midget Hockey League, those voices were proved right.
As the newly-formed Okotoks Bow Mark Oilers and Airdrie CFR Chemicals Bisons wrap up their first season in the league, both will simply be playing out the string. The Oilers were eliminated two weeks ago, while the Bisons have been out of playoff contention for some time.
Leading up to the Christmas break, the Oilers were a playoff team, cruising around with a 12-8-4 record with a plus-19 goal differential.
The solid play was highlighted by local product and Oilers captain Joel Krahenbil netting a hat trick in the franchise opener and a pair of four-game winning streaks.
At the Mac’s Midget AAA World Invitational Hockey Tournament, the Oilers failed to advance out of the round robin stage and their league play headed into a tailspin.
“Injuries started to play a role starting at the Mac’s. Not to make it a big excuse, but they did play a big factor in falling off the map in the second half,” said Oilers Head Coach Kevin Willison. “Missing the playoffs is disappointing for sure. Unfortunately, teams were better than us and we fell behind.”
They came out of the blocks in the unofficial second half winless in their first eight games of the season. Former Wheatland Athletic Association midget Chiefs Ty Tarvyd picked up his first shutout of the season Feb. 11 when the Oilers blanked the Grande Peace Ernie’s Sports Storm 4-0 to bring their goal differential since the Mac’s up to a minus 15.
Despite missing the playoffs, several local players still managed to turn in solid seasons in Okotoks.
Krahenbil set a career high with 14 goals and 27 points.
“It was a tough season. As a team, the major part of our downfall came when we were playing with six, seven regulars out of the lineup due to injury. Once they came back, guys were already down on themselves and we couldn’t recover,” said Krahenbil. “Personally, I thought I played well at both ends. There’s always more room to contribute offensively. But for me now, I just hope to go to a couple junior camps this spring and next fall, and pick an option that suits me the best.”
Tarvyd finished tied for the AMHL’s eighth-best save percentage, .920, and earned a solid 3.09 goals against average. Another former Chief was Isaac Benoit, who sniped 11 goals and 20 points in 27 games before shattering his ankle after the Mac’s. Siksika Nation’s Anson McMaster didn’t score this season, but turned in 13 assists from the Oilers blue line, and former Strathmore Bison Tyler Strath notched three goals and 10 points in 34 games on the Oilers back end.
Life was even worse up north for the Airdrie Bisons.
Their 6-15-2 start with a minus 29 goal differential in the Chrysler Division took them out of the running to host their own pool at the Mac’s. A slight improvement following the tourney was not enough to resurrect their playoff dreams, as they closed out the season 2-4-2 with a minus 15 goal differential.
“We only started the season with three players with previous midget triple A experience. We had a lot of learning on the fly to do and it took a couple of months for us to get in a groove,” said Bisons Head Coach Dan Gendur. “I thought we played well at the Mac’s, surprised a lot of people and carried that forward into the back stretch of our season. Our organization is about development, and we are very happy with some guys and the opportunities they built for themselves next season.”
Defenceman Cayde Augustine was the only player to carry over from the Strathmore Bisons last year and he had himself a career year.
After only recording eight assists in 33 games last year, the Airdrie product buried 10 goals and added seven assists this season.
His improvement also saw him make the jump to the Western Hockey League, where he debuted in three games with the Kelowna Rockets.
Mark Zachary was the only other Bison with some local connections to Strathmore, as he has family from the area. Zachary spent 30 games with the Bisons, scoring three goals and 12 assists before leaving the team for personal reasons two weeks ago.
For those interested, the AMHL playoffs kick off this weekend and can be tracked on the AMHL website (amhl.ab.ca).