Coach says ‘horrible call’ costs Greyhounds
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
It’s a safe bet local referees Alex Schmidt and Josh Houslander won’t be on John Dean’s 2024 Christmas card list.
The Soo Greyhounds head coach ripped both on Saturday, criticizing them for what he described as a “horrible call” that “cost us a game.”
Hounds centre Brady Martin was assessed a five-minute major for interference at 19:39 of the third period.
Just 12-seconds later, with 8.8 seconds remaining, North Bay’s Ethan Procyszyn scored his second goal, redirecting a Wyatt Kennedy point shot past Hounds goalie Landon Miller. The power-play marker gave the Battalion a 3-2 victory before an announced (paid) crowd of 3,905 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Due to inclement weather that has hit the Sault in recent days, far fewer were actually in attendance.
“They blew it,” Dean said of the local referees, who filled in for OHL officials.
It’s unclear why the OHL didn’t staff the game, but Dean said: “You have flights going in and out of Toronto to the Sault. Our goaltending coach (Mark Visentin) flew out today (Saturday). And yet you have two NOJHL (Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League) refs doing our game. I’m not sure why we didn’t have OHL refs here. They blew it.”
After making a pass coming out of his zone, North Bay defenceman Nolan Laird was on the receiving end of a thundering check by Martin, who lowered his shoulder.
Laird went flying a few feet into the boards and, in obvious distress, required assistance leaving the ice.
Neither referee had his hand up following the hit and the Hounds believe the review was as a result of Martin being stronger on his skates than the North Bay player.
However, moments later, five minutes went up on the scoreboard and the referees went through a video review.
Houslander and Schmidt confirmed a major penalty and Dean became irate behind the Soo bench.
The club was assessed a two-minute bench minor and Dean was tossed, handed a game misconduct for abuse of an official.
The Soo coach said he was “very confused by the call. They didn’t make a call on the ice. They just reviewed the play. I pleaded, asking: ‘What are you reviewing?’ They didn’t know what they were reviewing. They couldn’t give me an answer.”
Dean went on to say: “You have to have a penalty to review. They just thought they should review something because a guy was laying on the ice and the other team made a fuss. I’ve never seen five minutes for interference in my career.”
The major penalty is automatically reviewed and Martin could face supplemental punishment from the OHL.
The loss for the Hounds was their fourth straight, dropping the club to 12-13-0-0, heading into a Wednesday contest in Saginaw (7:05 p.m.).
North Bay improved to 11-11-2-0.
As he was leaving the dressing room on Saturday, an obviously upset Martin said he “thought it was a clean hit.”
Dean took it farther.
“That was a great, clean hit by Brady Martin,” the coach said. “I’m proud of him for finishing his hits. That wasn’t interference. That was a clean hit.”
Asked about being tossed at the end of the contest, Dean said it had never happened to him before in his coaching career.
Meantime, North Bay bench boss Ryan Oulahen said he saw the hit as it happened and then watched it quickly on a tablet on the bench.
“I thought it warranted them (the referees) taking a look,” he said.
Asked about Laird’s condition, the coach answered: “I’m not sure. He’s with the Hounds team doctors right now and we’re hoping for the best.”
Meantime, Dean was asked if he was concerned about possible punishment from the league for his criticism of Schmidt and Houslander.
“It’s my responsibility to defend my players,” he answered.
As for the game, the Soo coach thought his club played well.
“We did a lot of good things,” said Dean, whose team received another solid performance from Martin.
“I think we had a really good game,” added defenceman Andrew Gibson. “This was a good bounce-back after losing three straight last week on the road.”
Oulahen praised netminder Mike McIvor, who was a standout for the winners.
“We have a resilient group,” the coach added.
Trailing 2-1 in the third, the Hounds converted on a 5-on-3 power play. Owen Allard, who returned after missing eight games due to injury, carried the puck into the North Bay zone. He fed Justin Cloutier in the slot and Cloutier found Martin in the left circle.
The talented centre fired a one-timer past McIvor on the glove side at the 10:27 mark.
The visitors opened the scoring late in the second period. Skating 6-on-5 due to a delayed penalty, Jacob LeBlanc, who was outstanding on Saturday, made a slick cross-ice feed to Lirim Amidovski.
The Battalion winger wasted little time, sending a one-timer from the left circle past Miller on the stick side. The goal came at 19:22.
North Bay made it 2-0 with a power-play marker at 1:58 of the third. LeBlanc snapped one from the blue-line that Miller stopped. But Procyszyn made a beautiful play, taking the rebound out of the air on the backhand and beating Miller 5-hole.
On a night when they held a 31-27 edge in shots, the Soo wasted little time by responding just over two-minutes later.
Travis Hayes sent the puck around the boards and Gibson grabbed it on the left wing. The veteran rearguard skated into the slot before beating McIvor on the glove side.
Keegan Gillen also drew an assist on the play for his first OHL point, as the Hounds made it 2-1 at 4:10.
Notes:
Netminder Charlie Schenkel didn’t dress due to an upper-body injury. Local player Nick Marson served as Miller’s backup.
A story involving the Battalion – and certainly of interest to the Greyhounds – was making the rounds on Saturday. It involves centre Ryder Cali and the speculation he may be close to joining North Bay.
“We’ve had discussions,” said a smiling Scott Abbott, the club’s owner and governor.
Cali, taken by the Hounds in the first round (18th overall) of the 2024 Priority Selections draft, refused to report here and was dealt to the Battalion in September. He’s made a verbal commitment to play south of the border for Harvard University.
Regardless of whether the player ever reports to North Bay, the Soo gets a compensatory first-round pick (as per OHL rules) in the 2025 draft. They would also receive a 2025 sixth-rounder from the Battalion.
However, if Cali does suit up for North Bay, the Soo would also receive second and fourth-round choices in 2028 and a seventh-rounder in 2027.
