Ty Yoder, Conyr Hellyer, Nick Wolfenberg to serve as alternate captains
OKOTOKS, AB (September 15, 2022) – Entering his third season with the Okotoks Oilers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, 2003-born forward Dean Spak (Calgary, AB) was named the organization’s latest captain today.
Spak succeeds Tucker McRae (Calgary, AB), who captained the team in his fourth season last year before departing for Dartmouth College.
“Dean has been with us for a long time, and has been led by a lot of good leaders with this organization,” said Oilers head coach and general manager Tyler Deis. “With his work ethic, and his commitment to this program to make it better, he’s the ideal choice to lead this group.”
“There’s a lot of big footsteps I’ve got to follow,” said Spak after the announcement today. “I’m just looking forward to helping this team out to win as much as possible. There’s a ton of leaders in this group; we have some young guys and some old guys, but leaders throughout the whole team.”
The 19-year old ranked 9th on the team in scoring last season with 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 60 games, but truly came into his own in the team’s 2022 playoff run to the AJHL South Final, where he was second in team playoff scoring and 14th overall in the AJHL, registering 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in 14 games.
Prior, he scored 4 points in 6 games in the shortened 2020-21 season, before which he was recruited from the Calgary U18 Northstars of the AEHL, where he scored 23 points in 29 games in his final season of AAA hockey in 2019-20. He also dressed as an affiliate for the Oilers in both the 2019-20 and 2018-19 seasons.
“At the end of the day, Dean represents the intangibles we want to see in a captain,” Deis added. “His consistency has continually improved, his work ethic and determination are unquestioned, and he works hard while dedicating himself to our program both on and off the ice.”
In addition to Spak’s captaincy, the coaching staff also named its three alternate captains: forward Ty Yoder (Tofield, AB) and Conyr Hellyer (Okotoks, AB), as well as defenceman Nick Wolfenberg (Calgary, AB).
Yoder, 20, was acquired by the Oilers partway through last season, and was one of its most productive scorers, tallying 21 points (14 goals, 7 assists) in 33 games with the team, adding a further 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists) in 14 games.
Hellyer, 18, won the team’s Hardest Working Oiler award in his rookie campaign last season, scoring 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in 52 games, and adding 9 more (6 goals, 3 assists) in 14 playoff games, a year removed from his alternate captaincy with the Okotoks U18 AAA Oilers. He committed to NCAA Division I Arizona State University early last season.
Wolfenberg, 18, tallied 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) and 93 penalty minutes in an injury-shortened 36-game campaign last season, earning himself a late addition onto NHL Central Scouting’s rankings for the most recent draft with his defensively sound and physically impactful play.
The Oilers will open their 18th season of Alberta Junior Hockey League play on Friday night when they take on the Camrose Kodiaks on the road at 7:00 PM. Pre-game coverage begins on The Eagle 100.9 at 6:45.