The Drumheller Dragons signed a 5 year contract with Brian Curran as General Manager and Head Coach.  Brian brings a wealth of knowledge and 8 years of professional head coaching experience. 

Brian played 405 games in the NHL.  Prior to the NHL Brian played for the WHL’s Portland Winter Hawks.  He was selected by the Boston Bruins,in the second round, 22^nd overall, in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He played defence for the Bruins, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, and Washington Capitals.

Curran was known as the “tough guy” and spent his share of time in the penaltly box. 

Brians NHL career came to an end in 1994. He continued to play professional hockey in the minors until 1998. Following his playing career, Curran got into coaching and was the head coach with Jacksonville of the ECHL in 1998-99 and the Monroe Moccasins of the WPHL in 1999-2000.

Brian was head coach/general manager of the Brooks Bandits and from there went on to coach the Lloydminister Bobcats for 2 ½ years.  He was named the AJHL’s Coach of the Year. 

The Drumheller Dragons wish to congratulate 16 year old Rookie, Tye Hand on his selection to the CCM South Division All-Rookie Team.  The full AJHL article is below.

The Alberta Junior Hockey League is proud to announce the 2011-2012 Reebok AJHL All-League Teams and CCM AJHL All-Rookie Teams. The selections for each team were selected by the League General Managers and Coaches.

Reebok South Division All-League Team

• G Jay Deo Calgary Mustangs
• D Sam Jardine Camrose Kodiaks
• D Rhett Holland Okotoks Oilers
• F Matt Wilkins* Brooks Bandits
• F Jonathan Turk Okotoks Oilers
• F Corey Scott Calgary Mustangs

CCM South Division All-Rookie Team

• G Matt Gibney Camrose Kodiaks
• D Robert Hamilton* Okotoks Oilers
• D Ty Hand Drumheller Dragons
• F Nelson Gadoury Camrose Kodiaks
• F Anthony Petruzzelli Brooks Bandits
• F Luke Philp Canmore Eagles

Reebok North Division All-League Team

• G Tyler Briggs Lloydminster Bobcats
• D Blake Leask Bonnyville Pontiacs
• D Brock Maschmeyer Fort McMurray Oil Barons
• F Peter Quenneville* Sherwood Park Crusaders
• F Kyle Harris Lloydminster Bobcats
• F Markus Gerbrandt Fort McMurray Oil Barons

CCM North Division All-Rookie Team

• G Matt Tomkins Sherwood Park Crusaders
• D Mike Green Fort McMurray Oil Barons
• D Mike Williamson Spruce Grove Saints
• F Dayton Reinboldt Sherwood Park Crusaders
• F Matthew Marcinew Lloydminster Bobcats
• F Tommy Barszcz Bonnyville Pontiacs

* Unanimous Selection

Three AJHL players were unanimous selections to the AJHL All-League and All-Rookie rosters, including Peter Quenneville (North Division All-League Team), Matt Wilkins (South Division All-League Team), and Robert Hamilton (South Division All-Rookie Team).

Tyler Briggs was nominated to the 2010-2011 North Division All-Rookie Team and now holds a spot on the 2011-2012 North Division All-League Team. Sam Jardine was also voted to the 2010-2011 South Division All-Rookie Team and the 2011-2012 South Division All-League Team.

Five players nominated to the 2012 AJHL All-League and All-Rookie Teams were also selected as League Award Winners in the 2011-2012 AJHL Season. The North Division All-League Team includes three Award Winners (Briggs, Leask and Quenneville). Matt Wilkins was a unanimous selection to the South Division All-League Team and was also the 2012 AJHL Scoring Champion and recipient of the Pro Hockey Life Cup. The South Division All-Rookie Team includes AJHL Rookie of the Year Anthony Petruzzelli.

Four members of the North Division All-League Team have already committed to a post-secondary institutions in North America (Leask, Maschmeyer, Quenneville, Gerbrandt). Three selections to the South Division All-League Team have also committed to a post-secondary career (Jardine, Holland, Wilkins) as well as Robert Hamilton of the South Division All Rookie Team.

Two members of the North Division All-League Team and two players from the South Division All-League Team participated in the 2011 World Junior A Challenge. Tyler Briggs, Peter Quenneville, Sam Jardine and Rhett Holland captured a gold medal for Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge. Goaltender Matt Tomkins of the North Division All-Rookie Team also had the opportunity to showcase his skills on the National stage as a selection to the 2011 CJHL Top Prospects Game.

Round Two of the 2012 AJHL Enerflex Cup Playoffs will begin on March 6th. The South Division Semi-Finals will feature Brooks versus the Calgary Canucks and Okotoks vs. Olds. The North Division Semi-Finals include Spruce Grove vs. Drayton Valley and Fort McMurray vs. Sherwood Park.

The 2012 AJHL Playoff Schedule, Playoff Bracket, and head to head stats for each series are available on the AJHL website www.AJHL.ca. Watch each game of the 2012 AJHL Playoffs live on AJHL Pay Per View at www.AJHL.ca.

 

Press Release – March 7, 2012

The Drumheller Dragons wish to announce that Barry Wolff will no longer be carrying on his duties as the Interim-Head Coach and General Manager of the Hockey Club.

 The Dragons would like to acknowledge Barry’s hard work and commitment to the team over the past 4 months. Rod Knelsen of the Dragons said “He has a vast knowledge of hockey, and Barry was able to make huge strides for our team this year and turn things around in his time with the Hockey Club.”

The organization would like to thank Barry and wish him the best in all of his future endeavours.

The Drumheller Dragons have a short list of candidates for the Head Coach and General Manager position, and will be looking to make an announcement in the near future.

 

Another season comes to it's inevitable conclusion. I'm again left wondering, "Where did the time go?" Here we are on the cusp of spring, yet it seems such a brief time since back in September when the 2011-12 campaign got underway.

One last look back into the history of the Dragons before we wrap up another season. Here we go.....

 

trivia: Three Dragon players have scored game-winning overtime goals in the playoffs. Can you name them?

The answer is at the bottom of the page.

 

 This Week in Dragon's History

 (March 04--10)

 

Before we get to the Dragons portion of this weekly feature, let's look back further. Way back in Drumheller hockey history. Back to March 09, 1975; some 37 years ago. On that date the now defunct Drumheller Falcons whipped the visiting Pass Red Devils 15-3 at the Arena. In that game, a former Falcon set a scoring record which stands to this day in the AJHL. Ron Rose of the Falcons recorded 9 scoring points in that game (3 goals, 6 assists). Wow. That remains the most points ever recorded in an AJHL game.

 

29 years after Rose's big night, the Dragons competed in their first AJHL playoff game. On March 06, 2004 the Dragons faced the Olds Grizzlys in Olds in game one of their first round match-up. Unfortunately, the Grizzlys won the game 5-2. They also won the series in three games.

 

A dark, dark day in Dragon history falls during this week. After opening up a 2-0 series lead against Canmore in their round one meeting in March of 2006, the Dragons lost game five 6-5 in overtime to the Eagles at the Memorial Arena on March 09. The Eagles managed to win the final three games of the series to complete the comeback. The final two games were decided in overtime. Truly a dark day in Dragons history.

 

A couple of Dragons celebrate birthdays this week. On March 09 Calgary native Jamie Paulsen will turn 24 years old. Paulsen wore jersey #11 for 15 games in 2007-08. The former Calgary Buffaloes AAA midget scored  2-3=5 in his time with the Dragons.

 

All-time great Derek Werenka reaches 26 years old on March 4th. Werenka is the Dragons all-time leader in career goals (65) and career powerplay goals (20). The Airdrie native played 102 games for the orange and black in parts of three seasons. He set a club record with 23 goals in the 2004-05 season in only 32 games played. The next season #11 exploded for 35-41=78. He combined with brothers Dion and Brandon Knelsen to form one of the most potent lines in the AJHL. His 78 points still stands as the single season Dragons record. Derek Werenka, 26 years old, on March 4th.

 

trivia: The ultimate thrill for any hockey player, scoring an overtime goal to give your team a playoff win! Three members of the Dragons have experienced that thrill. Did you come up with.....

Trevor Smyth, Colin Bergman and Ashton Reinboldt.

Trevor Smyth did the deed March 02, 2008 against the Brooks Bandits in game two of a best-of-5 first round series at the Memorial Arena. #25 whistled one past Kody Vanrentergem from Tyler Moir at 4.14 of the first overtime to give the Dragons a 2-0 series lead. They completed the sweep with a win in game three two days later in Brooks.

Colin Bergman scored his overtime winner March 25, 2008 in game three of the 3rd round against the Camrose Kodiaks. #9 slipped one past Allen York at 5.35 of the first overtime period to lift the Dragons to a 3-2 victory. Trevor Smyth and Graham Klassen provided the assists as the Dragons cut the Kodiaks lead to 2 games to 1 in the series.

Ashton Reinboldt scored the most dramatic overtime goal in Dragons playoff history March 04, 2009. Facing elimination on home ice against the Olds Grizzlys, the two teams went into the second overtime period of game four tied 5-5, until Reinboldt darted in off the right wing and whipped one high glove side past Marc Boulanger at 10.38 to keep the Dragons alive. An amazing moment in time for all in attendance, an indelible memory etched in the memory banks. March 4th, 3 years ago.

 

That's our look back on some of the events that have marked the Drumheller Dragons first nine AJHL seasons. There will be many more to come in 2012-13. Plan to be part of it!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Dragons started the post season on the road against the 2nd place Okotoks Oilers.  The Dragons travelled to Okotoks on Friday, Feb 24th for the 1st of 2 match ups in the Okotoks Centennial Arena.  The Dragons were in a nail biter game which saw the Oilers walk away with a 3-2 victory.  The Dragons would not go down so easily in the following night match up in Okotoks.  The Dragons fought hard and with just over 4 minutes left in the game the Dragons had tied the game at 2.  Regulation time would not be enough to decide the outcome, the game headed to overtime.  The Oilers, however were victories in the extra frame.  This set the Dragons up for a must win on Monday night when Okotoks would travel to the Memorial Arena for the 1st home game of the playoffs.  The Dragons would end the 1st period Monday night down 2-0.  This however did not deter the Dragons, with just over 1 minute into the 2nd frame, 20-year old Kevin McMillan would bury one past Oilers netminder, Tadjdeh, to put the Dragons within 1.  The Oilers scored half way thru the 2nd to again take the lead by 2.  The Dragons pressed on and after 40 minutes of play the Oilers led 4-2.  The 3rd period saw the Dragons close the gap on the Oilers, but an empty net goal with only 20 seconds left in the frame saw the Dragons post season come to an end.  The Oilers ended up winning 5-3 and taking the series 3-0. 
This ends the Dragons 2011-2012 season and sees the departure of 20-year olds Kevin McMillan, Kenton Levesque and Braden Gamble.  The Drumheller Dragons wish to Thank these 3 fine young men for all of their time, commitment and perserverance over the years and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.