Daley a dandy in debut
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Beginning in 1999, his father was an electrifying Soo Greyhounds talent.
Friday, while making his OHL debut, Trevor Daley Jr. matched some of his dad’s magnetism.
After the Hounds had blown 3-1 and 4-3 leads, the 17-year-old (2009 birth year) centre fired home the winner in overtime, as the Soo edged Saginaw 5-4 in front of 3,894 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Second-year winger Noah Laus was a standout, contributing three goals and an assist in what was the regular season opener for both clubs.
“I was elated, 100 per-cent and just happy we got the win,” said Daley, a five-foot-10, 180-pound native of Fort Myers Beach, Fla.
With the home side skating 4-on-3, while on the powerplay in OT, Daley took a feed from Jakub Winkelhofer and skated into the left circle.
The Soo’s third-round draft choice in 2025 beat Spirit netminder Egor Sokolov high to the glove side at 1:18.
With his parents, Trevor Sr. and Kristy in attendance, the goal touched off a feverish, on-ice celebration.
Daley, who also contributed an assist Friday, spoke of a piece of advice given him by assistant coach Pat Jarrett, just prior to the start of the powerplay.
“He told me that if I could rip it bar down, rip it bar down,” Daley recalled. “If not, pass it across.”
There would be no need for a pass, as the Hounds will carry an opening night victory into Saturday’s 7:07 p.m. home start against Sarnia.
“Nice rip. Nice rip,” gushed fellow centre Quinn McKenzie, who was also a standout contributing a pair of assists while going 17 for 23 in the face-off circle. “That’s Daley for you.”
“For him, he tends to pass more than he shoots,” said Hounds head coach Drew Bannister, whose club had a 31-29 edge in shots. “But he elected to shoot and he was rewarded.”
While pleased to get two points, Bannister wasn’t happy with the Hounds overall performance.
“Up 3-1, the game should be over. How it ended was fine, but how it got to that point isn’t,” he said. “But it’s a good learning experience for us.”
Trailing 3-1 after 40 minutes, the Spirit scored three times in the final period.
“I thought the second period for us led into what happened in the third,” the Soo coach continued. “We played a little bit loose.”
Laus, a first-round draft choice in 2025, registered his first OHL hat trick, scoring three times in a span of 5:14 in the opening period.
The all-time franchise record for fastest three goals is held by Rick Tocchet, who did it in 2:31 in 1984.
A Belle River, Ont. native, Laus connected with a shot from the left circle that deflected off of a Saginaw defender at 3:07.
After Braidy Wassilyn tied the game with a slick move to beat Landon Miller on the short side at 4:15, Lau scored similar back-to-back, short-side goals.
Both came off of feeds from McKenzie and turnovers led to each of the Laus markers.
“That felt amazing,” he said. “It’s really good to do it off the start. I just want to try to keep it going.”
Saginaw trimmed its deficit to 3-2 when Gordei Khotkov scored at 8:53 of the third period. The visitors tied the score on a Dima Zhilkin power-play tally at 12:35.
Ryan Kaczynski shoveled the puck home 37 seconds later to restore the Soo’s one-goal lead.
But with 1:47 left in regulation, Zhilkin converted on the rush to tie the score 4-4.
“We showed a lot of resilience,” said Laus. “But we let off the gas in the second and third.”
“I think people underestimate us. We have a lot of guys on this team who can contribute,” said McKenzie. “That was a big win for us.”
When asked, Bannister agreed the Hounds got a solid performance from Miller.
“He was really, really good,” the coach offered. “He was especially strong in the second period.”
Saginaw was missing its top two netminders, Stepan Shurygin and Brady Knowling, who remain at pro camp.
“It’s a young league and we made young mistakes,” said Spirit bench boss Brendan Taylor. “But I’m proud of our guys. The resilience to come back on the road is something we’ll build on.”
Wassilyn finished with a goal and an assist while Levi Harper had three assists in defeat. Brody Pepoy contributed a pair.
Notes:
Bannister said Friday’s backup goalie, David Vermirovsky, is expected to start against Sarnia.
