A fledgling trio on a brand new team has developed into one of the most effective lines in the province.
The Okotoks Bow Mark Oilers made it six games unbeaten in the Alberta Midget Hockey League in a 4-1 triumph over the CAC Gregg Distributor Canadians on Saturday with the line of Gibb Coady, Jaevon Buschlen and Hunter Maximnuk providing all of the offence.
“They threw us together and it just clicked right away,” Buschlen said. “First game we buried our chances every single time, it kept going and coaches kept playing us and it worked out in our favour.”
Coady notched a hat-trick and set up Maximnuk on an end-to-end rush to round out the scoring in the 4-1 victory, Oct. 14 at Pason Centennial Arena.
The former leads the AMHL with seven goals in six games, Buschlen is tied for third with six assists and Maximnuk has chipped in with five points already as the workhorse on the line.
“Hunter does all the dirty work, gets the puck to me or Gibby and we make a play with it,” Buschlen said. “I don’t think Hunter gets enough credit for people to realize it’s not always the guys who have the points, it’s the guys that do the dirty work.”
The sniper, playmaker and speedster did not see any action together in the pre-season as Coady was still skating with the Junior A Oilers until the late stages of exhibition.
They made up for lost time almost immediately.
“We just got chemistry right away,” Coady said. “Me, Buschlen and Hunter, they’re both setting me up. Buschlen does a lot of playmaking and Hunter goes hard to the net and gets nice and greasy goals.”
Transitional play has been key for the strong skating line.
Three of the four goals came off the rush in the victory over CAC Gregg.
“Our line is pretty fast,” Buschlen said. “We’re using our speed breaking out of the zone and making those simple little passes and then getting the puck to the net is key to scoring.”
It’s the second win in less than a week over CAC Gregg, having blitzed the Edmonton-based Canadians by a 4-2 score on the road.
“We took a lot of penalties in the first,” Coady said. “We started creating some offence and killed off some big penalties.
“They hit a lot, they’re a big team with a lot of speed and we just needed to match that today and I thought we did in the second and third.”
Hunter Young made 31 saves for his second win of the season.
Bow Mark skated to a 1-1 tie in Red Deer versus the Chiefs to open the weekend on Oct. 13.
Rangy forward Kale Clouston provided the only offence in the draw.
The Oilers remain one of just three squads in the 19-team league yet to taste defeat.
“It’s crazy, knowing most teams probably thought we wouldn’t be a top team in the league,” Buschlen said. “All of us are coming together as one. Even though we don’t have any real all-stars, everyone is putting their own foot into the dirt and we’re doing well on that.”
The Oilers (4-0-2) put the unbeaten run on the line on Oct. 21 in a battle of the South Division’s top two teams when the Calgary Buffaloes make the short trek to Pason Centennial Arena for a 6:30 p.m. puck-drop. The weekend closes in an inter-divisional tilt with the visiting Lloydminster Bobcats on Oct. 22 at 1:30 p.m.
“A lot of teams come in here now and they should be scared,” Coady said. “We’re actually a good team and it’s nice getting these wins at the beginning of the year so when it comes down to playoff time we’ve got these wins.”
