Hounds get W, but coach has a bone to pick
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
FULL PHOTO GALLERY | GAME HIGHLIGHTS
In Friday’s first period, the Soo Greyhounds looked like lumberjacks and their opponents resembled trees.
The Hounds scored twice in the first 3:52 and added a third goal before the opening frame was 10-minutes old.
With 9:20 left in the first, the home team held a 14-1 edge in shots.
Despite some struggles the rest of the way, the Soo, behind Charlie Schenkel’s strong netminding, hung on to beat the Peterborough Petes 4-0 in front of 3,896 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“Our start was really big,” said rookie defenceman Chase Reid, who finished with three assists and owns a 1-8-9 stat line in just eight games. “We were dialed in, got pucks to the net, got pucks behind their D, had a good net-front presence and shot every chance we got.”
“We made good choices and played a very simple brand of hockey,” added Hounds centre Owen Allard, whose one-goal, two assist performance helped his club snap a three-game losing streak. “And we didn’t have a lot of turnovers.”
Following the victory, the Greyhounds take a 16-20-0-0 mark into Saturday’s 7:05 p.m. clash in Saginaw.
However, as much as he liked his team’s start – “Our goal was to get 10 shots in the first 10 minutes and we got to the net and buried rebounds,” – head coach John Dean was in no mood to celebrate.
Saying his club’s success stopped after the opening frame, Dean ripped a group of players he refused to name.
“We have a bunch of guys who think they’re better than they are,” he began. “The brand of hockey we need to play to be successful is different than the way some guys want to play right now.”
The coach went on to explain how he’s “very happy with a number of guys and very disappointed with a number of guys.”
Dean refused comment when asked who he was referring to.
“You can’t play this game inside an identity crisis,” the coach added. “Today was unacceptable. You can’t have a couple of guys who are playing in a way that’s not conducive to Hounds hockey. We need to have 20 guys all tugging on the same rope.”
Asked about specific issues, Dean spoke of not winning 50-50 battles, not having a willingness to block shots and go the extra mile and choosing to go off script. In short, the intangibles which make teams successful.
“It got pretty embarrassing,” Allard added. “As the game went on, our blue-line choices were awful. We played a really selfish brand of hockey the last 40 minutes.”
It took just 1:36 for the home side to get on the board. Jordan Charron circled the Peterborough goal and fed Reid in the left circle.
Petes’ goalie Easton Rye stopped Reid’s shot, but left a rebound for Charron who went up high for his fifth goal of the season.
Just 2:16 later, Reid fired the puck on goal and Allard battled for the rebound in front. Justin Cloutier gobbled it up and deposited his 19th of the season to make it 2-0.
Just under six-minutes later, the Hounds made it 3-0 on the power play.
Reid notched his third assist by firing a low drive from the point. Again, Rye had trouble controlling the rebound and Allard poked the puck in on his second chance in tight.
With six-minutes to go in the period, Schenkel gave Peterborough a glimpse of what the night would look like. The overage netminder made a slick pad save on a breakaway attempt by Brennan Faulkner to maintain the three-goal lead.
“I was pretty unhappy with how we started,” said Petes’ head coach Rob Wilson, whose club dropped its fifth straight, falling to 7-24-2-4. “We were complacent and puck watching and it cost us. But I loved our last 50 minutes. We didn’t go out and just roll over.”
The Hounds closed out the scoring in the final frame. Allard out-raced a defender to the puck, creating a 2-on-0. He fed Marco Mignosa who tapped the puck past Rye for his 15th goal in just 26 games.
Dean praised Schenkel, saying the veteran goaltender was “great.”
“I just wanted to give my team a chance to win,” said Schenkel, on a night when the Soo held a 30-29 edge in shots. “I had a great week of work and built a lot of confidence in my game.”
Notes:
Hounds general manager Kyle Raftis said Friday the team instructed defenceman Andrew Gibson to get some rest at his home in LaSalle, Ont., this weekend.
Gibson and his Team Canada teammates were eliminated in the World Junior Championship quarter-finals on Thursday, dropping a 4-3 decision to Czechia.
Along with Gibson and Noel Nordh (Team Sweden at world juniors), the Hounds played Friday minus Brady Martin (lower-body injury), Chris Brown (upper body) and Spencer Evans (upper body).
None are expected to play in Saginaw.
