The Dragons finished 2021 with a tenuous hold on second place in the Viterra AJHL South Division, trailing the Brooks Bandits, who only have two losses on the season.
The Drumheller Dragons were in Camrose on Tuesday, December 14, to take on the Kodiaks. The Dragons outshot the Kodiaks 11-5 in the first period and started stacking goals, starting at 4:14 in with a powerplay goal from Tanner Willick. Myles Hilman followed this up about two minutes later, and then Grayson Dietrich scored short-handed at the 12-minute mark. Ty Daneault added another with four minutes left, to go up 4-0. The Kodiaks add their first on the powerplay, but Griffin Asham- Moroz scored with nine seconds left, to make it 5-1 after one.
The Kodiaks scored in the second period, but Daneault added a powerplay goal at the midway point of the third as the Dragons went on to a 6-2 win.
The Dragons were back home on Friday, December 17, for their last home game of the year, and faced off against the Okotoks Oilers. Again they didn’t waste any time as Daneault scored 1:10 in. This was followed by powerplay goals from Sam Simard and Dietrich respectively. The Oilers added one, but Vann Yuhas put the Dragons up 4-1 after one.
After a scoreless second period, the Okotoks scored just 24 seconds into the third period and added another four minutes later, but it was too little too late as the Dragons went on to a 4-3 win.
The Dragons wound up the year heading to Brooks to take on the Bandits. Hilman opened the scoring for the Dragons on the powerplay midway through the first period, but Brooks tied it up early in the second. Hillman added his second of the game two minutes into the second, but Brooks again tied it back up. Finally, with less than six minutes left in the game, the Bandits scored the winner, ending the game with a score of 3-2.
The Dragons have a 22-11-3 record and are 20 points behind the Bandits and just a point ahead of the Kodiaks. They are back on the ice in the new year on Tuesday, January 4, to take on the Olds Grizzlys.
