Hounds Hayes plans to stay hot
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Now that he’s back in his office, Travis Hayes is comfortable again.
Office, you ask?
What office?
“He’s built himself a little space that’s about a five-foot perimeter around the net,” said Soo Greyhounds head coach John Dean. “Travis likes to be in it and around it and he’s making his home around the blue paint.”
And by staying close to the goaltender’s crease, the second-year winger is “starting to find second opportunities and is tipping in pucks,” the coach continued. “And he’s now playing true to his identity.”
That, in a nutshell, said Dean, is part of the reason for the 17-year-old’s (2007 birth year) offensive uptick.
Prior to the Soo dropping a 6-0 decision in Oshawa on Sunday, Hayes had three goals and four assists over a four-game span.
For the season, he has 14 goals and 16 assists, with a plus-minus of zero, in 48 games
“I love being net front. That’s the strong suit of my game,” said Hayes, a five-foot-11, 173-pounder, taken in the second round (No. 25 overall) of the 2023 Priority Selections draft.
Seven points over four games is the kind of stretch he hopes to continue as the Hounds prepare for the final 17 games of the regular season.
Next up is Saginaw, here on Wednesday for a 7:07 p.m. start.
Hayes says he’s determined to help the club win as many games as possible, not only to make the playoffs, but to take a run at both seventh and sixth place in the Western Conference.
Heading into Wednesday’s clash, the Soo owns a 20-29-1-1 record, good for the eighth-and-final playoff spot if the season ended today.
Owen Sound (17-28-3-3) is in ninth place, two points back of the Greyhounds. Guelph (15-27-4-3) sits 10th, five points out of eighth place. But the Storm has two games in hand on both the Hounds and the Attack.
The Soo is also four points behind seventh-place Sarnia (18-22-3-7), with the Sting holding a game in hand.
And the Greyhounds are seven points back of sixth-place Flint (22-24-2-3).
“Whether it’s the tallest guy in the league or the shortest guy, it doesn’t matter. I love battling in front of the net,” added Hayes. “I try to get lose and try to tip in pucks and grab rebounds. That’s where I play best.”
Known for a tenacity that belies his size, Hayes quickly gained the trust of Dean while enjoying an impressive rookie season.
A year ago, he fashioned a 14-21-35 stat line in 58 games, along with a plus-minus of plus-9.
The Westland, Mich., native got off to a strong start this season, producing six goals and four assists over the Greyhounds first 10 games.
But he hit a slump after that, notching just a single tally and two assists in a 13-game span.
“He was inconsistent and streaky,” offered Dean.
Hayes, in his NHL draft year, says he knows why.
“I think I was cheating the game he bit,” he noted. “When the points weren’t coming, I think I was cheating a bit. Obviously, you want to produce. And when that doesn’t come, you try to cheat the game.”
The second-year man is known as a player with high expectations, who puts a lot of pressure on himself.
Hayes spoke of how not staying focused on defensive-zone responsibilities and/or leaving the defensive zone early in search of scoring chances is “obviously not a good way to play.”
“He really wants to produce and he was going about it the wrong way,” said Dean. “I didn’t think he was in his office or around the blue paint enough.”
Hayes discussed how, since his slump, he’s been determined to do a lot of the little things.
“I was obviously disappointed with my first half of the season,” he added. “In the second half, I’ve picked things up quite a bit. I learned that if I play the right way, everything will fall into place.”
Dean talked about how the young winger is going to the net a lot more and hunting pucks with vigor.
In short, Hayes has adapted.
The best part of his game now is his “hunger for the puck, getting pucks back and getting them to my linemates,” he said.
Among 42 players chosen to compete in January’s inaugural Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game, Hayes was recently ranked No. 117 among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings, going into the 2025 draft.
And while he’d love to be drafted and one day achieve his goal of skating in the NHL, Hayes is presently focused on helping his team succeed.
“The biggest thing is to win games,” he said. “From here on out, we have to treat every game as if it’s a playoff game. And we’re not satisfied with eighth place. We’re trying to finish seventh or sixth.”
Hayes also spoke of how the Greyhounds “owe Saginaw one” after dropping a 5-2 decision to the Spirit on Feb. 2 at Dow Event Center.
The undisciplined Hounds provided their opponents with nine power-play opportunities and surrendered five unanswered goals that day.
On Tuesday, Dean said none of his injured players, netminder Nolan Lalonde, centre Owen Allard or forward Chris Brown, would play on Wednesday.
Lalonde suffered a lower-body injury during pre-game warmups last Thursday, while the others have upper-body difficulties.
Meantime, following Wednesday’s home clash with Saginaw, the Soo is slated to visit London on Friday (7 p.m.), Sarnia on Saturday (7:05 p.m.) and Brantford on Family Day Monday (2 p.m.).
