Rearguard Clark returns for must-win battle
BRAMPTON, Ont. – The Brampton Battalion hopes Matt Clark provides the spark.
The Troops are pinning much of their hope of extending their Ontario Hockey League playoff lives on getting defenceman Clark back from a four-game suspension. Clark, set to return against the visiting Barrie Colts at 7 p.m. Wednesday, would be only too happy to oblige.
Trailing Barrie 3-0 in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal, the Battalion faces elimination in the game, for which tickets are available online at www.battalionhockey.com.
The Colts, who captured their third victory by a 5-1 count at Barrie on Monday night, won the series opener 5-3 at home Thursday night and prevailed 3-2 in overtime at Brampton on Sunday.
“I’m really excited about it,” Clark said Tuesday. “I’m sick and tired of watching from the stands. It’s been really tough watching us lose three games. Every game means so much in playoffs, and that made it even harder to sit out. Hopefully I can add something to the team.
“I’m trying to focus on what I can do. I want to have a positive influence on the team. Hopefully we can pull out a win and go on from there.”
The Battalion outshot Barrie 42-39 in Game 3, but the Colts enjoyed many more chances and kept the visitors off the board until Sean Jones’s goal at 16:42 of the third period.
“There’s a lot of character on this team,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler. “They know their backs are to the wall. Now we get Clark back, and he’s a guy who can play 30 minutes a night for us. The Colts are missing some guys, but they’re an older team with more depth than we have.”
Clark, who has two goals and four assists for six points in as many playoff games, hasn’t been the only key veteran missing from the Battalion lineup in recent games. Centre Sam Carrick is out for the season after suffering a broken collarbone in the series opener.
“You can lose guys to injury in the playoffs, but some of the young guys have been stepping up for us, and that’s great,” said Clark. “Zach Bell has done a good job while I’ve been gone, and the older guys are taking their share of the load too. That’s what you do in playoffs. We’re battling pretty hard.”
Clark, voted the conference’s best defensive defenceman and best body checker in the OHL Coaches Poll, was suspended after receiving a major penalty for checking from behind and a game misconduct March 28 in Game 6 of a conference quarterfinal against the Kingston Frontenacs.
Clark made what many saw as minimal contact with the visiting Frontenacs’ Ethan Werek, who fell awkwardly into the end boards and suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Both players missed the Troops’ 5-2 victory March 30 at Kingston in Game 7 of the series.
“It was an unfortunate incident,” said Clark. “I would never try to hurt another player. That’s not my game. I’m a physical player, and sometimes accidents happen. It’s too bad he got hurt. The ruling was what the OHL thought was a suitable punishment.
“I consider Ethan a friend. We get together in the summer and work out. I sent a message to him after the game and told him I didn’t mean for him to get hurt. He understands that.”
A 19-year-old from Campbellville, Ont., Clark scored seven goals, all on the power play, and earned 16 assists for 23 points in 66 games in his second season with the Battalion. An 11th-round choice in the 2006 OHL Priority Selection, he had three goals and 20 assists for 23 points in 63 games as a rookie.
It was announced last week that Clark has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks, who made him a second-round pick in the National Hockey League’s Entry Draft last June.
If the Battalion wins Game 4, the series would return to Barrie for a fifth game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
