Reagan backstops beefed-up Bisons

A good goaltender can hide a lot of deficiencies.

A great goaltender makes those blemishes almost completely disappear.

Okotoks Bisons 'tender Devin Reagan definitely falls in the latter category.

"Reagan is the best goalie in the Heritage League, without a doubt," Bisons GM Ryan Rarick said. "The last two years, he hid a lot of the flaws we had as a team.

"I think we addressed a lot of those issues. I would be really disappointed if we didn't do considerably better than we did the last few years.

"Reagan singlehandedly won us a lot of games the last couple of years. This year, we should be able to give him some goal support so we don't have to rely on him to bail us out every game."

That's great news for Reagan, who was named HJHL goaltender of the year in 2018-19.

Not so great for the Bisons' South Division rivals.

The Bisons went 27-7-4 in 2018-19, finishing with 58 points, just two points back of the first-place Coaldale Copperheads.

But after a busy, and successful summer of recruiting, the Bisons expect to have a more balanced attack, which will allow Reagan to catch his breath.

"He's been a real workhorse for us," Rarick said of his 6-foot-4, 220-pound all-star. "I'm not saying that he's not going to play a lot of games, but hopefully he doesn't have to stand on his head for every one of those games.

"I think he's been pretty tired come playoff time because he's seen a lot of rubber throughout the season.

"We've picked up some pretty good players, so hopefully we don't have to rely on Reagan to win us hockey games."

So far, so good.

The Bisons won three of their four pre-season tilts and scored an average of six goals per game.

"We're really happy," Rarick said. "We knew we had a bunch of kids who could return and with the new additions we have, this is definitely the strongest team we've had in the three years I've been here.

"We're going to have a lot of 20-year-olds, which is a good thing for this year.

"Barring any substantial injuries, we should be pretty good."

Okotoks added Tyler Witzke, who played the past few seasons with the KIJHL's Fernie Ghostriders and Creston Valley Thundercats.

"Tyler Witzke is a kid I've watched for a number of years," Rarick said. "For whatever reason, he wasn't able to play a lot of junior A hockey, but there's not a doubt in my mind that he could have.

"We're lucky that he decided to come back to Calgary and go the U of C. He's been fantastic in the pre-season.

Newcomer Michael Bentz, who spent the past two seasons with the AJHL's Sherwood Park Crusaders, will anchor the blueline.

Last year's captain, Kyle Harrison blew out his knee and had surgery in February. He's expected to make his return to the lineup around Christmas.

But the club's heart and soul remains between the pipes.

Reagan was 19-10-0 with a 2.52 goals-against average and a spectacular .925 save percentage last season, which was an improvement over his previous campaign (18-8-0, 2.99, .924).

"We brought quite a few guys in — good players, too," the Calgary product said. "We've definitely made some upgrades.

"We're looking pretty good."

The 20-year-old could play again next season, but said this could be it for his junior career.

"I could play again next year, but I think if we have a real good year, I'll go out on a good note.

"I just want to win this year, and I know every single guy on the team has the same expectation."

The Bisons open the 2019-20 HJHL season by welcoming the High River Flyers to town on Friday (8 p.m.). They'll visit the Strathmore Wheat Kings the following night (8 p.m.).