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Dragons split preseason series with Lloydminster

About 400 fans were able to see the 2016-2017 edition of the Drumheller Dragons and saw some bright spots.

The Dragons wrapped up the exhibition season last Friday night at the Drumheller Memorial Arena. The night before they were in Lloydminster where they beat the Bobcats 3-1. Both teams returned for the rematch, and Drumheller looked strong out of the gate. The Dragons outshot the Bobcats 14-2 in the first period, and went up 2-0 with goals from Brayden Nicholetts on the power play, and then Tyler Oakenfold.

“In the first 35 minutes there is not much we can say negative about our team,” said head coach Brian Curran. “We did a lot of good things, I think our d-zone was good, our transitional good, our neutral zone as good, we were playing physical and we competed really hard.”

It didn’t take long for the Bobcats to get back in it, ending the second period tied at two, and then scoring the winner in the third.

“Their goalie kept them in the game, and then we had a breakdown. I felt the momentum changed, instead of playing as a team we played more like individuals after scored the second goal on the power play,” said Curran. “We lost our composure.”

“Did we work hard? Extremely hard. For the first 35 minutes we worked as a team, for the last 25, we worked as individuals.”

Despite the loss, there were many positives for the young Dragons.

‘”I felt we controlled a lot of the play in both games, but we leaned a lot. We made some young mistakes and I am glad they are happening now. There is no question we are the youngest team in the league and I think if we can push it and grow together as team, we will just get better and better,” said Curran,

The focus for Curran has to be hard work.

“They are a hard working team,” he said. “The effort is going to be there every night. We won’t have players who are not going to compete. If they are not competing, they are going to put themselves in the stands, and they have been made well aware of that.”

While he doesn’t demand perfection, he demands progress.

“We know this is a work in progress… but as long as we are growing all years teams will know what to expect from us.”

The Dragons kick off the regular season on Friday, September 16 in Camrose. Their home opener is Friday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m. Prior to the game there is a tailgate party at the BCF with food, games, prizes and face painting. That action kicks off at 5 p.m.

Dragons Make Moves before Regular Season Gets Underway

BURGHARDT3

The Drumheller Dragons have traded '97-born goaltender Xavier Burghardt to the Kindersley Klippers of the SJHL in exchange for '97 forward Mitch Scott and '97 defenceman Austin Wong.

Mitch Scott, who played last season for the Calgary Canucks, brings a veteran presence who works hard and has strong offensive abilities. In 45 games he tallied 4 goals and 15 assists in the 2015-16 season.

At 6'3" tall, Austin Wong is a big, shut-down type defenseman and a strong skater who will help out on the Dragons' back end. Last year with the Klippers, he tallied 5 assists in 41 games.

"It was tough to let Xavier go as he's a great kid and well-liked in the locker room," said Dragons head coach and GM, Brian Curran. "However, I felt that with the direction we are going there were other concerns that came into play. We are a young team and I felt we need some key veteran players to help with this group. I'm happy that we were able to get Austin and Mitch as both are the right players for this team and will lead by example. I wish Xavier all the best."

With Burghardt gone, the Dragons have brought in '99-born goaltender Dane Dow who played Midget AAA in Lloydminster last season, where he posted 1.84 GAA and .920 save percentage. Dow played in the Telus Cup last season as well as for U-18 Team Alberta.

"We have two goalies [Virostek and Dow] who are very competitive and who last season played against each other in the Alberta Midget AAA finals," said Curran. "I believe these two players will push each other and will be very strong goalies for years to come."

You can catch the Dragons in action Friday, September 9 at the Memorial Arena as they take on the Lloydminster Bobcats in their first home exhibition contest. Game time is 7:30pm and tickets are $5 at the door (season ticket holders are free).

The Dragons regular season home opener is Friday, September 23, which will be preceded by a Tailgate Party in the BCF parking lot.

Dragons host successful spring camp

Dragons camp

   Some of the top hockey prospects in Alberta were at the Drumheller Memorial Arena last weekend to be seen at the Drumheller Dragons Spring camp.
   Coach and general manager Brian Curran said about 144 players came out for the camp from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. All received ample ice time, and all were top quality players.
   “It was a very successful weekend,” said Curran.
   While the Dragons are not able to secure players until June 1, he said they invited players they have had on the radar for sometime. As the camp progressed, they winnowed their numbers down to 40 playing in the prospects game and 40 to play in the future game.
   “Futures are obviously for the future, but prospects are for now,” said Curran.
   He explains they have strong interest in about four players from the Futures group that could suit up for the Dragons in a couple of seasons. The prospects also had a strong group with about 8-10 players they have interest in pursuing. He understands many will be heading out to camps for other teams and leagues.
   “There are some great coaches and some bad coaches in all the leagues. For me if a kid is going to play some other place because of the views, then I wouldn’t want the kid anyway. Every place has its positives. I always say if I had a son coming into this, and I felt comfortable with the coach and staff, Drumheller is the ideal place: this is where you want your boy to play, it makes it conducive for a players.”
   He says the Dragons are focusing on a younger team next season, aimed at giving the players the best opportunities possible.
“We are going younger next year because we feel we can start showing the NCAA schools that we are going to have 16 and 18 year olds on our team and they are good players. These kids will have a great opportunity, and as soon as we have the team picked we are going to flood the NCAA with all the potential players,” said Curran.
   He credits the scouts for putting together a top quality group for the camp.
   “We changed our whole scouting staff after Christmas and our scouts have done a phenomenal job. People don’t know these guys aren’t paid and they travel throughout the north and Red Deer and Calgary. And they did a terrific job of bringing some of the best players from the AAA programs and 15’s programs.”
   The Dragons have another spring camp coming up in Fort Saskatchewan on April 22-24.