MONDAY - GAME 6, THE AJHL'S NORTH WRAPS UP & COACHING CHANGES IN DRUMHELLER

A MUST WIN?

By all accounts, No, tonight's Game 6 at the Olds Sports Complex is not a must win - at least, not for the Grizzlys.

Olds worked hard to gain home ice advantage in their Best of Seven, 2nd Round AJHL Playoff series with the Okotoks Oilers so they wouldn't find themselves in the same predicament the Oilers face tonight.

So they wouldn't have to look the possibility of elimination in the face while away from the friendly confines of a home town arena pack with, for the most part, cheering home-town fans.

With that said, what the Grizzlys worked so hard for - all comes down to tonight.

This is why it was such a big deal to win one of the first two in Okotoks and this is why it was such a big deal to win the next two at home - for the chance to have the Home Town Crowd, the Home Town Cooking, the Home Town Advantage on a night when you try to wrap up a series early, on your Home Ice.

So, the question begs to be asked, what if?

What if Olds doesn't win tonight?

What if the Grizzlys don't come out with their best effort and the Oilers win game 6, sending the series to 7 and sending it back to Okotoks?

The edge, the advantage, the hard-work early on. . .literally, all goes by the way-side and now it's your team at the disadvantage - now it's your team that has to win to stay alive, and has to do so away from home.

I know, I know ... Okotoks would also have to win to stay alive should the series be sent the distance, but, that would be nothing new to the Oilers - in fact, should this series be sent to a Game 7, the Oilers would be pretty well versed in the art of playing to see another 2008-2009 AJHL post-season day - after all, they would have already faced that reality in two straight games.

So, in the end - is tonight a Must Win for the Olds Grizzlys?

No.

But it couldn't hurt.

Live play by play of tonight's game can be heard on 96.5 CKfm.

INTERESTING TO NOTE
As I alluded to after Game 5 - in all of their post-season losses the Grizzlys have allowed 6 goals - but - have always responded to win the next game, in fact every aspect of a Grizzlys Hockey game, is always a little better following a loss.

STATS IN GAMES FOLLOWING A POST SEASON LOSS

RECORD - 3 and 0 (6-3-0-1 POST SEASON RECORD)

GOALS ALLOWED - 9 in 3 games (2,2,5) - Avg. 3 per Game (3.7 POST SEASON TOTAL AVG)

SAVE PERCENTAGE - .886 SV% (.866 SV% POST SEASON TOTAL)

GOALS SCORED - 15 in 3 games (4,5,6) - Avg. 5 per Game (4.2 POST SEASON TOTAL AVG)

POWER PLAY PERCENTAGE - 29.4% (19.7% POST SEASON TOTAL, 5% DURING LOSES)

(The Following is the most important stat of the them all...)

Now if Sesame Street taught me anything as a Child - it's patterns matter. . .here's what the Grizzlys Post-Season Record would look like it you took it and turned into a fancy Sesame Street Pattern-o-gram.

L, W, W, L, W, W, L, W, W, L . . .?

(This is where Big Bird would ask "What comes Next?")
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THE ROAD TO THE CUP

Both teams in the AJHL's North Division have wrapped up their second round tilts and now patiently await their South Division Foes.

Brooks Robinson scored early in the third overtime last night as the Grande Prairie Storm defeated the Sherwood Park Crusaders 4-3 to win the best of seven series four games to two.

The Storm was the second seed in the North heading into the post-season.

Meantime the Spruce Grove Saints, who downed the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in 5 games on Friday.

The regular season champs will face the lowest remaining seed when the dust has finally settled here in the South.
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COACHING CHANGES IN THE DRAGONS' DEN

Effective March 12, 2009, the Drumheller Dragons announce changes to the management and coaching structure of the Hockey Club.

Head Coach, Rob Hegberg and Assistant Coach, Jason Hegberg, will be leaving their coaching roles with the team as well as General Manager, Doug Hergenhein.

Rob Hegberg started his coaching career in the 2004-05 season as assistant coach with the Dragons. His brother, Jason, came on board as assistant coach in the 2005-06 season, and together the brother combination lead the way ever since.

Doug Hergenhein joined the team during the 2006–07 campaign as General Manager.

The Dragons organization wish Rob, Jason and Doug the best of luck in all their future endeavors and thank them for their dedication to the team and the community of Drumheller.

(FROM AJHL.ca)