The Drumheller Dragons road record has finally increased. 

Before Saturday night (October 24), the Dragons had not won a game on the road since October 3 during the Alberta Junior ‘A’ Hockey League Showcase. 

Saturday the team travelled to Olds to face the Grizzlys for the first time in the regular season. 

Scoring got underway at 1:41 of the first period when Matt Muzyka scored for the Dragons. The Grizzlys tied it up less than five minutes later. By the end of the first period, the Grizzlys were leading 2-1 after a power play goal at 18:29. 

The Dragons flew out in the second period with two back-to-back goals, the second on the power play, to lead the game 3-2. At the 15-minute mark, the Grizzlys Josh Michener scored on the power play to tie the game. With no scoring in the third period, the teams forced an overtime period. 

After five minutes of overtime, the score didn’t change and a shootout was required. 

Evan Rochowaik scored for the Dragons on the sixth round to win the game 4-3.

At home Friday night the Dragons faced the Calgary Canucks. This is the second time the Canucks have visited the Memorial Arena this season, but the fourth time the two teams have met. 

The Dragons’ Ty Mappin opened scoring at 13:16 of the first period. The Canucks tied the game just over a minute later leaving the first period score at one goal each. 

The second period saw Ryan Chynoweth score his 10th goal of the season at 4:21 on the power play to give the Dragons a 2-1 lead. Just over half way through the period, Mappin scored his second of the game and shortly thereafter Connor Duncan scored to make the final score 4-1. 

Dragons captain defenseman Connor Duncan said he had a tiring first game back after being out with an injury for six games. 

“It’s a great feeling. It was great to watch the guys really pull together and play as a team for pretty much 60 minutes,” he said. 

Forward Ryan Chynoweth also played his first game back after being out for the same amount of games. 

The Dragons will now head on the road to Okotoks on Friday night before returning home to host the Olds Grizzlys on Halloween. There will be candy and prizes for kids of all ages. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Drumheller Memorial Arena. 

The Drumheller Valley Secondary School Junior A Dynos volleyball team has had a strong start to the season. 

The team, made up of 10 players in Grade’s 8 and 9, is currently sitting in first place after playing each of the teams in their league, which include Carbon, Three Hills, Linden, Trochu and Prairie Christian Academy. 

The team has participated in three tournaments so far, one in Olds where they placed second, one in Strathmore where the team made the quarter finals but missed moving on by a couple points. 

Their most recent tournament was on the weekend (October 16 and 17), where they travelled to Strathmore and placed third. 

“They played hard, showed a great drive for winning, promoted positive team work and placed third in the tournament. We have leaders and role models on our team, Cera Cawiezel, Grace Spitzer, Emilya Wright, Kaitlynn Paarup and Erin Bertsch who attend each practice ready to ‘get better’ and develop their skills. Every team player has made an improvement in some way since our season began,” said coach Carmen Spitzer. 

“The girls understand that their presence and support, whether it be from playing on the court or cheering from the bench, has been a key factory to our success thus far. As their coach, I look forward to watching them push each other to new levels of success and I appreciate how they are supporting each other on this adventure,” she told inSide Drumheller, adding that everyone’s dedication to the team is evident including players, coaches and parents.

The team’s next home game is Thursday, October 22 (results not available at press time), before they head to Carstairs for a tournament on the weekend (October 23 and 24).