The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) 2025-2026 Playoffs start today, and although the Drayton Valley Thunder missed the mark this year, Head Coach and General Manager Jeff Truitt says the season was a learning experience and that the team will be back even stronger next season.
The Drayton Valley Thunder finished the regular season in sixth in the AJHL South Division, with a record of 14-35-4-2 and 34 points.
Truitt says the inconsistent wins can’t be attributed to player enthusiasm.
“That’s one thing I was really quite proud of, is that our players came to play every night, and call it youthful inexperience or whatever it might be, but our guys played hard,” he says. “Some nights we took it on the chin, we learned our lessons along the way, but we also know that there’s a long way to go here, so that’s what the planning is going to be this spring and summer.”
With a relatively young group of players, Truitt said the move into Junior A hockey may have been a big change.
“They got first-hand sights on what it takes in the Alberta junior league to win,” he explains. “It’s a good league, it’s a hard league, and I think a lot of our guys were – not surprised – but in reality, when you’re out on the ice and a lot of older players that you’re up against, and the speed and the recognition of plays, and the responsibilities within our systems, you can’t have mistakes and holes and things like that.”
The adjustment made it a “big learning year” for the team, Truitt says, adding that in their exit interviews, players said they know the team needs to be more resilient.
“We only had 140 goals in 55 games, so our goal scoring’s got to get up dramatically, and then our goals against really have to go down,” Truitt comments. “In a nutshell, we’ve got to score more and we’ve got to defend better.”
Most players are eligible to return next year, a boon for continuity. While there are improvements to be made, Truitt says all of the players are a pleasure to work with.
He says, “It’s also a great growth pattern for our guys returning, and having gone through what we went through this year is going to make us a better team next year.”
Two players will not be returning, as they are aging out of the AJHL: team captain Billy Hooson and forward Dryden Tomkow.
Truitt says Hooson and Tomkow are “salt of the earth guys” who are community oriented and always led by example in the dressing room and on the ice. He adds that Hooson was an excellent team leader and “our most physical defenceman.”
Meantime, Taynton Lavender is a finalist for the AJHL’S Most Valuable Player and Outstanding Defenceman awards.
Truitt says Lavender came alive this season.
“He was the catalyst of our team offensively, particularly on the powerplay, but he was by far our most consistent goal scorer,” he comments.
League award winners will be determined through a final round of voting and announced following the completion of the AJHL regular season. They will also be nominated for national recognition through the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
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