Barons bench boss Gord Thibodeau picked up AJHL win number 500 on Tuesday night with a 5-1 triumph over the Drayton Valley Thunder. Thibodeau becomes just the third coach in league history to reach the 500 mark joining Fran Gow and Don Phelps in the exclusive club.

Thibodeau says he can’t remember the first win but also remembers the last and points out in the game of hockey it’s important to stay focused on the present. Brad Stebner was able to track down the game puck for his coach.

The Oil Barons improved to 10 and 0 on home ice to start the 2008-2009 season. The last time the Barons had a stretch of 10 straight home victories was to kick off the 2005-2006 season, they went on to win the AJHL that season.

Notes From The Broadcast Booth:

Rookie Ben Lake once again had a very solid game and managed to pick up an assist on Dave Carr’s 5th goal of the year.

Kirby Halcrow wasn’t tested a whole lot but did have to make a couple of big saves. Drayton Valley only had 14 shots on net.

Mason Conway scored his first goal of the season in his first game back after missing at least 2 weeks with an injury.

James Isaacs missed the game with a minor injury he suffered in practice. He says he should be back in the line up this weekend.

Upcoming: 

The Barons will try to get things going on the road this weekend with stops in St. Albert, Drayton Valley and Lloydminster. All three game will be available at www.mymcmurray.com . I will not be going on the road with the team this weekend but a broadcast will still be provided.

If the Oil Barons improve to 10 and 0 on home ice this Tuesday against Drayton Valley, Barons Head Coach Gord Thibodeau will join the Canucks Don Phelps as the only two coaches in AJHL history to win 500 career regular season games.

A quick trip down to Spruce Grove for the Barons this Friday. The team is actually leaving Thursday afternoon which is probably a good idea considering the road problems they’ve had so far this season.

With the Thursday departure they will not be pressed for time on Friday. On the road so far this season the MOB at 2-6-2 while at home they are a perfect 8 and 0.

Cory Demko has been released by the Barons, which leaves the team with 23 players on the roster right now.

GM Gord Thibodeau is still looking for another defenseman and at least one, maybe two forwards.

He says there is about 40 players on the cross Canada wire but it’s been very tough getting a deal done.

Adam Johnson and Mason Conway, who are both out with shoulder injuries will most likely not be back on the ice until Monday.

The Barons return home on Saturday to face the Calgary Canucks.

Both games will be broadcast live on Country 93.3, 6:45 pre-game show on Friday, 8:15 on Saturday.

Forgot to mention that David Maltais made his Barons debut this weekend and he really brought a calming presence to the back end for the MOB.

Maltais played with James Isaacs and actually assisted on Isaacs first AJHL goal.

With Cory Demko and Mason Conway out of the line up Maltais was a big help.

Once Demko and Conway are both back in the lineup their should be some good experience on the back end.

The Oil Barons continue to impress at home. The MOB picked up a 3-1 win over Okotoks on Friday night and followed it up with a 3-2 win on Saturday Night. In both cases the Oil Barons jumped out to 3-0 leads.

The Barons penalty kill was pretty key all weekend, giving up one goal on the powerplay in each game, but the PK was key in killing off all 5 on 3 opportunities.

OFFICIATING

The officiating in the 3rd period on both nights was sub-par, that’s putting it nicely.

On Saturday night Ben Lauder was tossed for checkin from behind on an open ice hit in the neutral zone.

DUBETZ

Dakota Dubetz scored the 3rd goal in the Saturday night win and it was an absolute bullet. Dubetz stepped into from the left faceoff circle and absolutely hammered it off the bar and in….best slapper we’ve seen this season.

ROLLING

Shaun Rolling fought Chad Blaneil on Saturday. It was a dandy scrap as both light weight’s went toe to toe exchange rights showing no worry for their own faces at the same time. Dandy scrap!!!

Coming Up

The Barons and Saints will have a rematch on Friday night in Spruce. Then the MOB return for a Saturday night battle with the Canucks.

The Oil Barons suffered through a very long weekend in Grande Prairie losing 3-1 on Friday and 4-0 on Saturday. I wasn’t there so I’m not going to comment on the game, but the results clearly aren’t what GM and Head Coach Gord Thibodeau is looking for.

Thibodeau has to be working the phones looking to make some changes. A week ago Gord told me that some changes would be made very soon, that may be in the early part of this week.

So what is Gord looking for???

My guess would be one or two puck moving defensemen. Kyle Johnson, Bred Stebner are pretty solid but a true puck rusher would look good on the back end. Up front you have to think some offensive depth would be on the radar. The Barons appear to have a nice top six but after that there is a pretty big drop off.

The trade watch continues.

Prior to last night’s game against the Lloydminster Bobcats Barons GM Gord Thibodeau told me on the pre-game show that changes and trades will be made later this week.

He is very unhappy with the consistency and intensity, especially on the road.

“There are busy’s leaving Fort McMurray every day, they can be on it”….that was a direct quote from Gord.

Should be interested to see what moves are made, especially after a mediocore outting against the Bobcats. The MOB came away with a 2-1 win, thanks in large part to Steven Legatto making 27 saves…..Jordan Mirwaldt had a goal and an assist.

I’ll attempt get any confirmed trades by Gord up here on the blog as soon as he let’s me know about them.

The Barons fell to Olds 2-0 and tied Brooks 4-4 during the AJHL Showcase Weekend in Sherwood Park. The team is a perfect 5 and 0 on home this season but road games appear to be a different story. Away from Thickwood Height’s Arena the MOB are just 2-4-2.

Ben Lauder and Justin Lutz had a great scrap in the 3rd period of the Brooks game. The advantage goes to Lauder as Lutz had to leave the game with a face full of blood and did not return.

Matt Williams missed the game against Brooks as he was late arriving to the rink after writing his SAT’s at U of A. The test started over an hour late, which is why Matt wasn’t in the lineup.

Cory Demko looked solid in his first weekend with the team. Showed a veteran precense on the the back end but needs to adjust to the speed of the AJHL.

Steven Legatto played good letting in 2 goals on Friday. Kirby Halcrow was beaten 4 times on Saturday but made a number of remarkable saves.

The MOB play host to the struggling Bobcats on Tuesday. A chance to run the home streak to a perfect 6 and 0, but more importantly a chance to get the game back on track before heading up to G.P. this weekend.

Tuesday’s game is on Country 93.3. I’ll have the call at 7:30 with the pre-game show at 7:15 pm.