Colts Shutdown Dogs in Preseason Opener
Aidan Brown would light the lamp less than three minutes into the Colts preseason opener in Thorold, on route to a 3-0 victory against the Niagara Ice Dogs.
It all started with a beautiful cross ice pass by Victor Hadfield that found Brown on a partial break and he let a slapshot go that Niagara goaltender Stephen Dhillon definitely would want back.
It was a beautiful Friday night for some hockey as the boys made the trip to Thorold to take on the Niagara Ice Dogs in a different location. The game was played at the Thorold Community Arenas to raise money for the Thorold Amateur Athletic Association.
The rest of the first went scoreless, but was heavily dominated by the Colts who outshot the Dogs 10-3.
Just like the first period, it was a quick start for the boys in white in the second. Less than five minutes in it was Jason Willms scoring from a strange angle. He was all setup from a point shot by Joey Keane who put one through a screen onto new goaltender Colton Incze.
It was a special moment for #61 in white, less than a minute after the Willms goal. Ryan Suzuki was the beneficiary of a big rebound from a shot by Kirill Nizhnikov. Suzuki put it in the back of a wide-open cage. Although it won’t go down as his first career OHL goal it was still a special one with father Rob in the stands.
At the midway point of the period David Ovsjannikov, who started the game, gave way to Kai Edmonds who was put straight to work on a Niagara power play.
He was forced to make a big stop almost immediately, putting a blocker on a screened point shot.
Minutes later, the Dogs would get an odd man rush that ended with a loose puck sitting in the slot and Edmonds was forced to make the biggest stop of the night, leaving no rebound.
The tides seemed to turn once the Colts goaltending change happened. Ovsjannikov barely saw any action and Edmonds was the complete opposite as he was forced into another big stop on a rebound in front to keep the Ice Dogs off the board.
One minute into the third Edmonds continued his strong play. Niagara entered the zone on an odd man rush and moved him side to side to make a big right pad save.
Things would start getting very physical with bodies playing everywhere with both teams laying big clean body checks.
The story of the third was more of #27 White, Edmonds who continued to show the coaches why he’s ready to make the jump as Barrie went into more of a defensive shell protecting the three-goal lead.
Next up for the Colts, we head to Owen Sound on Sunday, September 3rd. Following that game we will host the same Attack Monday, September 4th at 6pm at the Molson Centre.
Tickets available at www.barriecolts.com
