Long Road Trip Over

That big sign on the side of Revolution Place will be a welcome sight for the Grande Prairie Storm when they pull into the building by the tracks most of the way through Monday morning.

The Storm haven't played a game in the building since January 13.

They have been on the road for six straight games, wrapping it up with a 4-0 loss to the Okotoks Oilers on Sunday.

And when they take on the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in game in Rev Place Friday for the first of two they will be doing it with most of their hands on deck.

The Cote boys – Cruz and and Walker – will be back in the lineup after serving five-game suspensions for a mix-up in Bonnyville last month and coach/general manager Matt Keillor will be behind the bench for the second game after serving his suspension for what the league felt was his part in the line brawl in Bonny January 20.

Landon Vollman, the third man involved in the brouhaha, got six for because he had taken over the limit in fighting penalties. He'll be back on Saturday for the second game of the double-dip against the MOB.

 After playing the Oilers to a 0-0 draw in the first period the Storm fell behind 1-0 after 40 minutes and, considering it was their third game in less than three days on a long southern swing, could be forgiven for giving up three in the third.

There is only so much gas in a player's tank and when the team tank entered the weekend low on fuel  thanks to the suspensions a wall-hitting was inevitable.

Jacob Bernard-Docker, Kyle Gordon, Jordan Xavier and Shane Allan scored for the Oilers and netminder Riley Morris picked up his third shutout of the season blocking all 22 shots drifted his way. Storm netminder Xavier Burghardt was in the GP net making 26 saves.

The 0-6 road adventure did not change the sixth, seventh and eighth spots in the Alberta Junior Hockey League North Division standings.

The Storm can't catch fifth place sitting in sixth with 30 points and nine games remaining. The Drayton Valley Thunder are seventh two points back and with two games in hand while the Lloydminster Bobcats, the silver medalists at the Royal Bank Cup Junior Canadian championship last year, are in eighth currently out of the playoffs with 23 points. They have 12 games remaining.

The Storm play in the friendly confines of Revolution Arena for six of their last nine games.

Meanwhile, former Storm player Carter Rowney picked up his first point in the National Hockey League win an assist to help the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Saturday.