Another showdown for Soo, Saginaw
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
A two-team race for the OHL’s West Division championship, this is now a demolition derby.
And the easiest way to win is to run over the other guy, and knock him out of the race.
That’s what the Soo Greyhounds and Saginaw Spirit have in mind as they prepare for the first of three remaining head-to-head games.
Tied for first place, the Hounds (31-12-2-1) and Spirit (32-12-0-1) are set to square off on Wednesday in a 7:05 p.m. start at the Dow Event Center. While both clubs have 65 points, Saginaw has a game in hand.
So far, the clubs have met five times with the road team winning all five.
The Hounds have secured 5-4 (in a shootout), 4-3 and 5-2 victories in Saginaw, while the Spirit have grabbed 3-1 and 4-3 decisions at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“It’s going to have a playoff vibe. It won’t be an easy game for either team,” said Hounds winger Jack Beck, the club’s leading scorer with an 18-40-58 stat line. “Both teams are going to be excited and I know we’ll be ready to go.”
“I’m really jacked,” added centre Brady Martin, taken third overall in last April’s OHL Priority Selections draft. “I think it’s going to be a good battle for us with our new team.”
That’s in reference to the acquisitions the Hounds made at the trade deadline. This will be the first time Gavin Hayes, Jacob Frasca and Justin DeZoete will be on the Soo roster heading into a clash with Saginaw.
Meantime, the Spirit is also reconfigured, having added the likes of Owen Beck, Josh Bloom, Jorian Donovan and Aidan Castle.
After bolstering their rosters with veteran talent at the trade deadline, both clubs are hot. Saginaw has won seven straight, while the Soo is on a five-game winning streak. Despite being somewhat disappointed over their performances, the Hounds stopped Kitchener 4-2 last Friday and Sarnia 3-2 on Sunday.
Asked why he believes his team is 3-for-3 against the Spirit in Saginaw so far this season, Martin spoke of how the Greyhounds have been a good road team all season.
There’s no doubt about that. The Hounds own an OHL-best road mark of 18-5-1-1.
“We get fired up in Saginaw,” added Martin, an Elmira, Ont., native. “We want to give it to their fans in their barn.”
Beck talked about some of the keys to winning Wednesday’s game.
He began by mentioning the importance of the Hounds being who they are and playing the style of hockey that’s been so successful this season.
“We get on top of teams. It almost feels as if we’re playing with an extra guy,” added Beck, who hails from Richmond Hill, Ont. “We’re fast, we’re hard on the forecheck. We get into the O-zone and we hold onto the puck.”
While the players can’t help but be excited, head coach John Dean is downplaying the importance of individual games. Dean stresses how nothing is determined at this point in the season and, win or lose, neither team will be out of the race after Wednesday’s game has been completed.
“I don’t care how big the game is,” the coach said. “We’re going to continue to elevate our game until playoff time and that’s all we care about.”
Dean went on to say the Hounds “need to be a team that plays the same way every night. It shouldn’t matter what the standings are or what the magnitude of the game is until it’s a do-or-die situation.”
Asked about Wednesday’s game in particular, the Soo coach talked of how his club needs to be “relentless” for 60 minutes.
“They’re a puck possession team that likes to own it,” Dean added. “We want to make their life hard. Make it difficult for them to own the puck and we need to remember just how good we are.”
Following the Saginaw clash, the Hounds return home to face Mississauga on Friday (7:07 p.m.) at the Gardens.
Notes:
After Wednesday, the teams play each other two more times before the playoffs begin. Both games are slated for the Sault with dates of Feb. 11 and March 24, the final day of the regular season.
