Greyhounds trip story includes injuries and losses
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Tucker Nadon
As if another setback, completing a series of three straight losses to cap their road trip, wasn’t enough, the Soo Greyhounds have apparently suffered another long-term injury.
After taking a hit midway through the second period on Sunday, defenceman Spencer Evans left the ice and didn’t return for the remainder of what proved to be an 8-5 loss to the Brampton Steelheads in front of 2,523 at CAA Centre.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said head coach John Dean, whose club began the game minus defenceman Andrew Gibson and winger Noel Nordh, both out with lower-body injuries, and centres Owen Allard and Chris Brown, along with netminder Charlie Schenkel, all on the shelf with upper-body trouble.
Asked about the status of Evans, who also suffered what the club is calling an upper-body injury, Dean said: “He won’t be back anytime soon. For sure, he’ll be out weeks.”
That mirrors the timeline Nordh is also looking at after falling awkwardly into the boards and appearing to hurt his right leg on Thursday in a 7-2 loss to Niagara.
Dean called that injury “significant,” saying Nordh was “week-to-week.”
Schenkel is out with an injury “that flared up in practice (on Saturday),” added the coach, who said the club’s No. 1 puck-stopper is day-to-day.
Gibson is also expected back soon after accidentally tripping over the leg of Schenkel in Thursday’s game in St. Catharines. At the same time, Brown suffered a setback involving a previous injury, while Allard has now missed eight straight.
Considering “the amount of tough situations our guys have been put into, the injury bug that’s hit us, the amount of will and determination our guys are putting in, it’s tough to be upset at this group,” said Dean, whose team also dropped a 6-3 decision on Friday in Erie.
The coach, who used the word “tough” to describe the road trip, also spoke of how “we make lots of mistakes, but some guys are playing humongous minutes with a limited bench, and we’re setting them up for failure.”
Against the Steelheads, who were also missing a number of players, the visitors surrendered four goals in a span of 4:54 in the second period.
And while the Greyhounds battled until the end, the hole proved too deep.
“It was tough to bounce back after they got the momentum,” said centre Brady Martin, whose line with wingers Travis Hayes and Justin Cloutier was outstanding. “Being short-staffed, it was tough to get going. But we showed no quit today.”
“We came out really flat and went off script in the second period,” said Dean, whose team fell to 12-12-0-0, heading into Friday and Saturday home games against North Bay. “We didn’t hammer the nail in the second period and we paid for it.”
Though they came out quickly and controlled the opening frame – outshooting the home side 20-11 – the Hounds skated off after 20 minutes tied 1-1.
The Steelheads began to assert themselves at the 7:45 mark of the middle stanza when Kieran Witkowski scored his first of three goals. Witkowski snuck in behind everyone and tapped a feed from Parker Von Richter past Landon Miller to make it 2-1.
Just 23 seconds later, Miller made three saves before Porter Martone sent a rebound to Carson Rehkopf at the side of the goal. He scored his second of three on the afternoon to make it 3-1. Martone finished with four assists.
Less than four-minutes later, Witkowski scored from the left side of the goal. And, just 46 seconds after that, the Soo lost the puck behind its own net. Martone slid it to Rehkopf who completed his hattrick to make it 5-1 at the 12:39 mark.
Marco Mignosa, who opened the scoring just 44-seconds into the contest, notched a short-handed marker at 13:42 of the second period. He took a slick feed from Caeden Carlisle, went forehand-backhand in front and beat Jack Ivankovic high to the blocker side. That was his ninth goal in just 14 games.
But, less than two minutes after that, Brady Smith turned the puck over at the Hounds blue-line and Witkowski scored his third goal of the period beating Miller high to the stick side. That made it 6-2.
Luke Misa and Troy Patten had the other goal for the winners, who held a 39-38 edge in shots, while improving to 11-10-1-0.
Martin finished with a goal and two assists while Hayes and Cloutier had a goal and an assist each. Brayden Velliaris notched an assist, his first point in a Soo uniform.
Dean estimated the Martin line played about 30 minutes, while saying: “They were absolutely dominant.”
The coach said he welcomed the time off prior to facing the Battalion, noting how the focus this week will be on rest and recovery.
“The nice part of (the injury situation) is that we’ll get to the other side shortly,” he added. “And we’ll all be the better for it.”
After the game, Martin didn’t return to the Sault. He’s headed for London and Tuesday’s start of the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge. Game 2 of the series, bringing together the elite prospects for next summer’s NHL Entry draft, is set for Wednesday in Oshawa.
“I’m pumped, obviously,” said Martin, who’s been a standout, while leading the Soo with an 11-12-23 stat line in 23 games. “This is a big event. I grew up watching the prospects game and always wanted to play in it.”
The native of Elmira, Ont., spoke of how, while growing up, he attended prospects games in both Kitchener and Guelph.
“I’m just going to do my thing there and play the game however is necessary,” Martin added. “Obviously, I want to impress the scouts.”
