Hockey is back!
Photo by Bob Davies
When the puck hits the ice to begin play on Friday, it’ll mark the Soo Greyhounds first Ontario Hockey League game in nearly 19 months.
“A long time,” agreed Hounds head coach John Dean, whose team is set to open the much-anticipated, 2021-2022 season against the North Bay Battalion (7:07 p.m.) at GFL Memorial Gardens. “There are no words to describe how it feels to be back.”
Indeed.
The Soo’s last four games of the 2019-2020 regular season and all of the 2020-2021 campaign were lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hounds had targeted the latter as an opportunity to take a serious run at a league championship.
“I’m super excited,” said Hounds captain Ryan O’Rourke. “To be able to play hockey again, to have all of my teammates and the fans back at the Gardens is the most-exciting thing.”
“We’ve all been waiting so long for this,” added fellow defenceman Jacob Holmes.
A self-described rink rat, Dean said he found the time away from hockey particularly difficult.
He spoke of being thankful the league is able to return and how he and his players are lucky to have the opportunity to enjoy a sport they love.
“It makes you appreciate the things which bring joy to your life,” he added. “I’ve learned to be really, really grateful and to appreciate things more, and there’s no doubt in my mind our players feel that way.”
Dean, who owns a combined 73-47-10-2 over nearly two OHL seasons, took his best shot at summing up what the return to action means for all.
“Tough days at the rink have suddenly become a lot easier for players, the coaching staff and management,” he said.
But will those warm feelings translate into on-ice success for a club which opens with 15 first-year players?
After what they had planned to be a very successful 2020-2021 campaign, which may have included the chance to serve as Memorial Cup host team, the Hounds were expected to face a retooling effort this season.
However, with Tanner Dickinson, Rory Kerins and Bryce McConnell-Barker, taken fourth overall in the 2020 OHL draft, manning the centre spots and O’Rourke, Holmes, overage Rob Calisti and Kirill Kudryavtsev, selected No. 6 overall in the 2021 Canadian Hockey League Import draft, anchoring the defence, the Hounds expect to have a solid core.
Cole MacKay, Joe Carroll, Alex Johnston and Tye Kartye are potential overages on the wings.
With Calisti in the lineup, two of the four will be able to dress on opening night, although the Hounds haven’t made their lineup plans public.
As well, Dean hasn’t said which of his rookie goalies would start on Friday. The Hounds begin the season with 18-year-old (2003 birth year) Samuel Ivanov and 17-year-old (2004) Charlie Schenkel between the pipes.
Asked about a realistic goal for his team, general manager Kyle Raftis spoke of how it’s too early to say.
“Tough to know how things will jell,” he said. “But we like our core. I’m really happy with how things have shaken out. I’m excited to see what we can do and I think it’s going to come down to how fast guys get comfortable.”
Dean was asked if the Greyhounds can surprise those who aren’t expecting big success.
“It’s difficult to say given we’ll have 15 or 16 new faces,” the coach said. “Our goal is to get the young guys up to speed as quickly as possible, and establish the foundation we expect from a Soo Greyhounds hockey club. Once we get a month or two under our belts, it’ll be a lot easier to answer that question.”
Players, typically more willing to tout their team’s potential, say they’re expecting a lot from themselves and each other.
“We have a really-good team this year and we have a chance to win every night,” said Kerins. “Obviously, we don’t know exactly what we have yet, but our young guys work really hard and they have a grasp of what we’re trying to do here.”
As for the returning veterans, Kerins spoke of how the Greyhounds “have a really-good group of older guys who are extremely-talented players.”
“I think from what we’ve shown and how we’ve practiced, we’re going to be a really-good team,” said O’Rourke. “I think we’ll surprise some people.”
In order to do just that, Holmes has some ideas on how the Soo must perform.
“We’ll need to play fast, continually work hard and compete in our skilled systems,” he said. “I see a lot of speed and skill on this team. We just need to compete hard and win every battle.”
Following Friday’s clash with North Bay, the Hounds are scheduled to take on Sudbury on Saturday (7:07 p.m.) at GFL Memorial Gardens.
