With results come expectations.
The Okotoks Jr. B Marauders wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The expectations are going to go up,” said Marauders head coach Don Haynes. “Every year is a new year. We start from scratch every year. We’ve got a pretty big turnover so there is going to be lots of new faces in the lineup.
“But we expect the same result. If you’re not shooting for the top then what are you doing?”
It will be a challenging encore for Okotoks.
The 2017 Marauders qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, upset the heavily favoured Calgary Shamrocks in the opening round of the post-season and established a new benchmark in the regular season with eight wins.
“That was unreal,” said Marauders sophomore Turner Dirk. “Before we were seen as the joke of the league and now we were beating top teams in the league and are another team competing. There is no team we can’t beat.”
To get back to the promised land will require some heavy lifting on the part of a new cast of characters.
Graduating from the team last season was a number of key cogs particularly on offence in leading scorer Matt McKay, sniper Taylor McNeill, 23-goal scorer Gage Turner along with defensive workhorse Kaleb Burnett.
“We graduated three guys on our lefty O and typically you only have five guys there,” Haynes said. “There is a big changeover, but we drafted pretty well and got some great ball players to fill those spots, it should be a pretty easy transition.
“It will be exciting to see who steps up.”
Returnees to the fold include playmaker Carter Walker, sharpshooters Cody Bomersine, Sean Garlock and slick lefty Rylee Lapierre.
Okotoks drafted some strong talent to help fill the holes including first-round pick Brydon Robichaud from High River along with the powerful Safo Arthur and fleet-footed Okotokian Jake Ruigrok.
“We’ve just got to be leaders for the new guys coming in,” Dirk said. “Teach them our systems, be leaders out there and show them how to communicate. They’re good enough, they know what to do, just a little bit of extra leadership on our part.”
Okotoks dropped its pre-season opener 11-7 to the Calgary Mountaineers with a youthful lineup as several regulars are not yet back from school and others are competing for spots in the Junior A ranks.
“We’ve got a bunch of good guys from last year, bunch of good rookies we drafted this year so we’re trying to compete again this year,” Dirk said. “Go on another playoff run, hopefully we can get back in the playoffs and compete against every team in the league.”
The Marauders open the regular season on April 27 at home versus the Mountaineers at the Murray Arena.
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