Hounds captain ‘built to play’ in postseason
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
For a playoff team to rise up to the stars, its stars must rise up.
That’s how Greyhounds centre Bryce McConnell-Barker views this season’s OHL playoffs.
He and his teammates are getting ready for a major challenge, facing the Saginaw Spirit in the Western Conference semifinals.
The opening two games are quickly approaching, set for Thursday and Saturday (both at 7:05 p.m.) at the Dow Event Center.
“We need to outwork them and stick to our structure,” said McConnell-Barker. “If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a good chance to win the series.”
The Soo’s captain “was a beast,” according to head coach John Dean, in the club’s first-round series against Guelph.
Playing between wingers Gavin Hayes and Jacob Frasca, McConnell-Barker led his team in scoring with two goals and six assists. He notched a plus-minus of plus-5 in the Greyhounds four-game sweep.
“Your top players need to be your top players,” said the 20-year-old (2004 birth year). “It’s crunch time now and every game is a big game. I think I’m a player who’s built to play in the big moments.”
From the time the postseason began, McConnell-Barker said he was “very determined to play a playoff style of hockey and show my teammates the way. I think I’ve gotten rewarded for the hard work I’ve been putting in.”
Having previously praised Frasca for his leadership, Dean described McConnell-Barker as another player putting the club on his shoulders, both on and off the ice.
“Our captain is doing captain things right now,” the coach added.
Dean went on to review the events of Game 3, when the Hounds found themselves in a 4-1 hole, late in the second period in Guelph.
Off of an offensive-zone draw, McConnell-Barker skated into the slot and ripped home a power-play tally at 17:35 – Dean called it “an incredible goal,” – before assisting on a Gavin Hayes marker 28 seconds later.
With the score 4-3 late in the third, the London, Ont., native also helped set up Kirill Kudryavtsev’s tying goal.
The Soo eventually won 5-4 on Owen Allard’s power-play marker at :57 of overtime.
McConnell-Barker is “taking the goalie’s eyes away, he’s getting above the puck, working hard away from it, doing all the little things that make teams successful at this time of year,” Dean added. “When your captain does those little things, it’s pretty easy to follow.”
Statistically, the six-foot-two, 200-pounder, had a slow start to the season.
He explained how he was more focused on habits such as winning 50-50 battles, defensive-zone play and being on the right side of the puck.
“I wanted to start prepping my game for pro hockey, playing a 200-foot game, playing a hard-nosed game,” said McConnell-Barker, a signed New York Rangers prospect. “And I think I’ve done a good job of that.”
His season also hit a roadblock when he suffered a concussion, the result of a head check delivered by London’s Sawyer Boulton, in a Dec. 10 game at GFL Memorial Gardens.
The injury kept McConnell-Barker out until Jan. 26. For the season, he managed to play in 52 games, posting a 22-29-51 stat line with a plus-minus of minus-2.
The captain said he was satisfied with his offensive numbers, adding he was “proud of how I played a more mature game. I wasn’t cheating for my offence. I was rewarded for playing the right way.”
And, McConnell-Barker added: “What’s more important is that I wanted our team to play well.”
The Hounds did exactly that, finishing with the OHL’s third-best record, 45-18-3-2.
Dean talked of how the veteran centre “has now found that sweet spot. He knows how hard he needs to play away from the puck, how relentless he needs to be and what kind of chances he can take when the puck’s on his stick.”
The result?
“He’s got a style of play that’s both defensive, but threatening offensively,” Dean said. “Bryce is a player who wants to find success for himself and his teammates.”
After the first two games of the Saginaw series, play shifts to the Sault for Games 3-4 on Monday and Wednesday of next week. Both are 7:07 p.m. starts.
Asked about the Spirit, McConnell-Barker talked about the rabid rivalry between Saginaw and the Soo.
“I see two really good, skilled teams who work hard going at it,” he said. “It’s been neck and neck all season and it would be a great feeling to knock the Memorial Cup hosts out of the playoffs.”
