Okotoks is shifting to playoff mode on the heels of a franchise-best regular season.
The Okotoks Bow Mark Oilers completed a historic 2024-25 campaign as the third seed in the South Division of the Alberta Elite Hockey League, a season in which the U18 AAA squad set franchise records in wins, points and placement.
Okotoks (23-12-1-2) meets the sixth-seed Calgary Royals (13-17-1-7) in the best-of-three opening round playoff series kicking off this week.
This season marked the first time Okotoks has finished in the top-four in the South Division, and the first time the Oilers have eclipsed the 20-win plateau since debuting in 2017-18.
Oilers forward Adam Halat finished as the AEHL top scorer with 54 points (24 goals, 30 assists), an impressive feat for the 15-year-old rookie and Saskatoon Blades prospect.
The team’s top line featuring Halat, Kaden Hayes and captain Tate Hanson has been front and centre for the Oilers all season, with Hayes posting a league-best 27 goals in 38 games.
At the other end of the ice, the tandem of Steele Bass and Dane Gillis has been among the provincial loop’s best.
Bass, a 2008-born netminder from High River, tied for the league lead with 15 wins along with a sparkling .923 save percentage. Gillis was tied for third in the AEHL with two shutouts.
Okotoks went undefeated versus the Royals with two wins and a tie during the season series.
The best-of-three set gets underway with Game 1 on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. at Okotoks’ Viking Rentals Centre. Game 2 is March 1 at Calgary’s Stu Peppard Arena. If the series goes the distance, Game 3 is set for March 2, 4:45 p.m. in Okotoks.
The other opening round series in the South pits the Calgary Buffaloes and Airdrie CFR Bisons. The top two seeds, the Calgary Flames and Calgary Northstars, have a bye.
For more information, go to aehl.ca.
