Oil Kings wake up to beat Brandon in ‘hooky’ clash
It was an educational day for those both on and off the ice at Rexall Place on Tuesday morning.
A boisterous crowd of 11,399 — including 7,900 students who were busy filling out workbooks throughout the game — cheered on the home team as the Edmonton Oil Kings defeated the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-2 in the fifth annual “Hockey Hooky” game.
Hours before the matchup, a few Oil Kings were also busy learning, as Brett Pollock, Dysin Mayo and Aaron Irving woke up at 6 a.m. to write exams before the puck even hit the ice.
“Pretty weird morning,” said Pollock, who is no doubt hoping he did as well on his chemistry exam as he did in the game.
Pollock scored a crucial first goal in the second period, one that helped revitalize the struggling Oil Kings, and buried another rebound in the third to help the home team pull off the victory.
There seemed to be two Oil Kings teams that showed up. The first squad, playing in the opening period, was more hesitant, played a bit sloppy and took several penalties against the Wheat Kings, a dangerous team that boasts the top power play in the Western Hockey League.
“Boy, can they move the puck around,” Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal said after the game. “That’s the No. 1 power play in the league, and they have a couple of units they can throw out you. We can take a page out of their book.”
By the end of the opening period, the score was 1-0 for the Wheat Kings, with Jayce Hawryluk capitalizing on the power play for the visiting team.
“We had a real slow start, standing around and seeing what Brandon was going to do,” said Laxdal. “It’s one of those early morning games. We talked about being better in the second and third periods.”
And better they were. By he middle of the second period, once Pollock buried a rebound from a Cody Corbett point shot, the Oil Kings looked like a different team, playing with a new-found intensity.
“We needed some momentum there,” Pollock said. “We were kind of on our heels in the first period and for a little bit in the second. But we got some momentum after that and just kept rolling.”
Less than a minute after the tying goal, Oil Kings forward Riley Kieser followed up with one of his own, quickly turning the game around to put his team in the lead. Mitch Moroz rounded out the scoring in the middle frame with a late, beautiful top-shelf goal to put the hosts up by two.
The comeback effort in the second period was not surprising to Oil Kings captain Griffin Reinhart.
“Our team has done a really good job this year of coming back,” the defenceman said. “We never (stop) believing in our team. A couple weekends ago in Prince George, we were down 6-2 going into the third, but we still believed and we came back and pulled it off.
“I think it’s a big confidence boost for our team and shows a lot of character.”
Although the third period proved to be more balanced between the two teams, with good scoring opportunities coming from both ends, the Oil Kings managed to hold their own.
Pollock buried another rebound while Edmonton product Peter Quenneville responded with a goal of his own to cut the Oil Kings’ lead to two, but that was the closest the Wheat Kings would get.
Tuesday’s early 11:30 a.m. start is the only one in the season for the Oil Kings — and the team might be grateful for that.
“We were a bit off schedule and that plays into your start a bit,” said Laxdal.
“The kids are used to a certain routine and they had to change their warm-up. But at the end of the day, we adjusted and we adapted.”