OLDS — It’s not getting easier for the Olds Grizzlys these days.
They head out on the road Friday to face the Canmore Eagles, the leaders of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s South Division with a 30-11-4-1 record for 65 points.
The next night, they host the Calgary Canucks, currently in second place in that division with a 29-11-2-2 record for 62 points.
The Grizzlys remain in last place in the division with a 14-29-1-0 record and 29 points after they were beaten 5-1 by the Lloydminster Bobcats in the Olds Sportsplex.
Hunter Motley got the lone goal for the Grizzlys at 6:26 of the second period, his eighth, assisted by Lucas Schaefer and Johnny Maruna.
The Bobcats opened the scoring at the 19:39 mark of the first period.
After Motley’s goal, the Bobcats scored two more in the second period and another two in the third to seal the win.
There was some nastiness. A total of 26 penalties were issued, including a couple of fighting majors and misconducts to each side.
Ben Dardis took the loss for the Grizzlys, staying in net for the whole game, despite facing a blizzard of 57 shots. The Grizzlys fired 27 at Bobcats goaltender Connor Graham.
The Grizzlys were 0/6 on the powerplay. The Bobcats were 2/4.
“We just didn’t play well,” Grizzlys head coach Brad Tobin said in a text. “We couldn’t connect on our passes.
“Too many individual plays and not enough compete in our defensive zone. Not scoring on the powerplay didn’t help either.
“We’ve got to stay out of the penalty box this weekend and play perfect games to get rewarded with results.”
