Dean calls Charron ‘incredible,’ lauds Hounds grit
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of Barrie Colts
Rookie Ryan Kaczynski fired home the shootout winner on Thursday.
But without Jordan Charron, there’s little chance the Soo Greyhounds are in position to secure a come-from-behind, 5-4 victory over the Barrie Colts in front of 2,377 at Sadlon Arena.
Now sure, it’s only six games.
But Charron has been all over the ice, carrying the puck, the offence and the team.
The second-year winger was a definite difference-maker – yet again – against the Colts, scoring twice and making a beautiful play to set up another goal as the Soo improved to 4-2-0-0.
“He’s incredible. Speed, size, strength and now he’s added a component of skill,” said head coach John Dean, whose team continues its second consecutive road trip on Friday (7 p.m.) in Brampton, before wrapping things up on Sunday (2 p.m.) in North Bay. “He’s using the tools that God gave him to the best of his ability.”
With seven goals and four assists, not to mention at least one point in every game this season, Charron is well on his way to a career year. A season ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins prospect scored 10 times and assisted on 11 others in 48 games.
Was this his best performance as an OHLer?
“For sure it was. I think I played really well,” said the Ayr, Ont., native. “But I’m just trying not to get carried away. I just want to keep playing my game.”
On a night when rookie centre Quinn McKenzie was also a standout, the Soo rallied from a 4-2 deficit with a pair of goals in the final period. A scoreless overtime set the stage for Kaczynski, the club’s second of two, first-round selection in the 2025 OHL draft.
His shootout attempt was preceded by two Barrie misses and one by the Soo.
The six-foot-two, 190-pounder wasn’t quite sure what his plan of attack would be, in part due to the less-than-ideal ice surface.
“Honestly, I was just trying to take it real slow and look for an opening,” said the Syosset, N.Y. native, who skated in and beat Colts goalie Ben Hrebik under the blocker. “I was going to deke, but then I changed my mind and just ripped it.”
The night ended on a miss by Barrie’s Kashawn Aitcheson.
Asked how netting the winner felt, Kaczynski said: “Unreal. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to win.”
Dean talked about how the first-year player shows confidence, no matter the situation.
“He doesn’t get fazed by much. He knows how good he is,” said the coach, whose club held a shots advantage in every period, outshooting the home side 47-26. “He’s pretty-darn cold-blooded.”
The Soo got off to a dominant start, but trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes. The Colts, who took advantage of turnovers, also led 4-2 going into the final frame. But on the power play, from a prone position, Charron displayed great effort to swipe the puck to a wide-open Chris Brown.
The veteran Hound finished a deke with a backhander low to the glove side to make it 4-3 at the 2:51 mark.
The official scorer gave the assist to Jakub Winkelhofer, but the play was clearly made by Charron.
Just over five minutes later, the Soo winger notched his second of the night. Charron stole the puck at his own blue-line, skated in on a 2-on-1 and fired low to the stick side from the top of the right circle.
“Jordan used the assets he’s been given,” Dean said of the tying goal. “We’re trying to convince everyone to do what you do well and do it to the best of your ability.”
McKenzie opened the scoring with his first career goal, banging home the rebound of a Chase Reid point shot. McKenzie shone all night, while Reid finished with eight shots on goal.
Dean called the first-year, free-agent centre “a horse.”
The Soo coach also liked the way in which his club dug in when things went wrong.
That kind of response was a team goal following Sunday’s 7-3 loss in Ottawa.
“We had a very good 60 minutes,” Dean added. “We showed grit and character. We stayed on top of pucks and stuck to our values.”
Meantime, Carter Lowe had a goal and an assist as the Colts fell to 1-2-0-2. Aitcheson notched a power-play marker while Nicholas Desiderio and Brad Gardiner had the other Barrie goals.
Asked about the play of Miller, Dean talked about how the Hounds will always challenge the veteran goalie to be better.
“Landon stood on his head in the shootout,” Dean said of the netminder, who turned aside all three Barrie attempts.
Notes:
Centre Brady Martin, still at the main camp of the Nashville Predators, missed his sixth consecutive game on Thursday.
Meantime, the Hounds have assigned rookie defenceman Isaiah Allen to Kirkland Lake of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
