While many eyes were on the Hockey Alberta U21 Provincial Championships taking place in Okotoks with the Okotoks Bisons, it was another team that won gold.

The U17 AAA Okotoks Oilers won the Provincial title over the Easter long weekend.

They were up against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers in the gold medal game up in St. Albert and came away with a 1-0 win for the provincial championship.

The Rangers had beaten the Oilers 10-5 earlier in the tournament, but it was the netminding of Connor White for the Oilers that sealed the shutout victory. 

White stopped 49 shots for the shutout and gold medal win.  The Oilers only managed to get 17 shots on net but the one from Nathan Flanagan was all that was needed. It was Flanagan's first and only goal of the tournament on assists from Jaden Rusznak and Nash Wassing that proved to be the game winner.

The Oilers journey to the gold medal match started last Thursday with a 3-2 win over the Calgary Northstars. The team lost on Friday morning 10-5 to the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers but the team did beat the host team, St. Albert Flyers 4-3 later on Friday night. The Oilers did lose 7-5 to the Sherwood Park Squires on Saturday but their 2-2 record put them into the gold medal game.

The five teams that qualified for provincials were the Okotoks Oilers, the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, the St. Albert Flyers, the Sherwood Park Squires and the Calgary Northstars.