BROOKS, AB (September 11, 2016) – The Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) scored early and often in a 6-1 win over the visiting Okotoks Oilers in front of 1,069 fans at the Centennial Regional Arena on Sunday night, in the defending league champions’ only exhibition game of 2016.
Led by two goals from Oliver Chau (Oakville, ON) and a 14-of-15 performance by goalie Alex Horawski (Toronto, ON), the Bandits held Okotoks to just six shots in the first half of the game, and outshot them 48-15 in the game.
A nifty behind the back pass by Ty Mappin (Big Valley, AB) found third-year defenceman Charlie Marchand (Calgary, AB) in the Okotoks slot just 7:47 into the first; his quick wrister beat goalie Riley Morris on the glove side for a 1-0 Bandit lead that held after twenty minutes.
In the second, Chau tallied his first when he tipped a desperation diving shot by Tyler Levine (Laguna Beach, CA) on the power play 2:14 in to make it 2-0, and followed up at the 11:06 mark on a breakaway pass by Cale Makar (Calgary, AB), as Chau knocked a quick backhand past replacement goalie Matthew Armitage to make it 3-0.
Jake Theis (Chanhassen, MN) capped off the second period Bandit scoring, jamming home a puck on a scramble in front for a 4-0 score before Trey DeGraaf swept a shot past Horawski in the final minute to cut the Oiler deficit to three.
The third was all Bandits on the scoresheet as Arnaud Vachon (Ajax, ON) led off with a rebound goal just 4:59 in, before exactly two minutes later a Parker Foo (Edmonton, AB) shot produced a rebound for Josh McKechney (Calgary, AB) to wire into an open net to make it a 6-1 game.
The Bandits will next play the Oilers for real points in the standings on Friday night at 7:00 PM in the team’s home opener, presented by Chinook Financial.
The game will benefit the Brooks Minor Hockey Association with a portion of every adult ticket sold, as well as the entire team share of the 50/50 pot, going directly to minor hockey. Tickets are available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca, by phone at (403) 501-0122, or in person at the CRA.