Hounds getting ready for Wolves rematch
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
By dipping into the recent past, the head coach of the Soo Greyhounds is hoping for success in the immediate future.
While reviewing video of Sunday’s 3-0 loss to visiting Saginaw, something jumped out to John Dean and his staff.
“We got rid of a lot of pucks we didn’t need to,” said Dean, whose club has dropped three of its last four heading into Wednesday’s 7:07 p.m. start against Sudbury at GFL Memorial Gardens. “We need to remind ourselves of just how good we are, just how capable we are with the puck.”
The coach also spoke of how his team “needs to make sure we identify the difference between playing fast and playing with confidence and swagger.”
Asked about the recent skid, which has dropped the Soo (33-15-2-1) six points back of the first-place Spirit (37-13-0-1) in the heated race for top spot in the OHL’s West Division, Dean spoke of how his club hasn’t played its best.
In fact, he pointed to a 2-1 win over Niagara last Saturday as the Greyhounds lone good performance.
“We feel that in three of the last four we’ve had some slippage,” Dean noted.
Asked to be specific, the coach spoke again of how the Hounds have “taken playing fast to an extreme. We’re not using our God-given talent. We have to find a balance between playing fast and playing with decision-making and skill.”
Defenceman Andrew Gibson said he and his teammates have to put their recent stretch of games behind them.
The Wolves, 6-5, come-from-behind winners over the Hounds last Wednesday in Sudbury, enter this clash with a 30-15-3-2 mark, while riding a four-game win streak.
They stand first in the Eastern Conference.
“We have to put this behind us and start fresh,” said Gibson, who owns a 7-26-33 stat line, along with a team-leading plus-minus of plus-28, in 51 games. “We have to worry about the teams we play moving forward and not what happened over the last week.”
Gibson also talked about the importance of the Greyhounds getting more pucks and more bodies to the opposition goal.
“Other than the (previous) Sudbury game,” he added, “we haven’t been scoring as many goals as we should.”
What’s also key for the Hounds, according to winger Justin Cloutier, is to get off to fast starts.
But there’s more, he added.
“We have to play a full 60 minutes and play our style,” he said. “I know it’s pretty cliché, but we also can’t take 10-15 minutes off. We’ve got to play a full 60.”
And when he and his teammates do that, Cloutier said, no opponent is too much for them.
In other words, their confidence hasn’t wavered.
“If we play our game, we can beat any team,” Cloutier added. “I truly mean it.”
Dean was asked what his players learned from the 6-5 loss in Sudbury and what they plan to bring into this week’s battle.
“How good they are getting behind us in transition,” the coach answered. “And how critical it is for us to manage the puck well. We need to force them to defend as opposed to letting them play in the offensive zone, which is what they like.”
Inconsistent for weeks, the Soo’s power play is just 2-for-13 since the start of February. The 0-for-5 against Saginaw on Sunday was troubling in a game that saw the home side fall behind 2-0 early.
“We need to be difference-makers, we need to be better,” Dean said. “We looked very static (against Saginaw), which is not what we want at all.”
The coach went on to say the Hounds must be more aggressive in front of the opposition goal, while forcing penalty-killers to consistently defend.
As for the injured Hounds wingers, Jordan D’Intino and Marco Mignosa, both out with upper-body injuries, Dean believes D’Intino will be in Wednesday’s lineup. He also said Mignosa remains day-to-day.
Following the Sudbury contest, the Hounds visit the London Knights on Friday (7 p.m.), before continuing their trip in Windsor on Sunday (4:05 p.m.) and Sarnia (2:05 p.m.) on Monday.
First in the Western Conference, the Knights (38-11-0-3) enter Friday’s game on a torrid 21-0-0-2 run.
The last time London lost in regulation was on Dec. 10, when the Hounds stopped them 5-4 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
