Hounds prepping for postseason
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
There are still three regular season home games remaining, but it’s safe to say an air of playoff anticipation encircles the Soo Greyhounds.
As his players prepare to face Sarnia on Wednesday and Flint on Friday (both 7:07 p.m. starts), prior to wrapping things up on Sunday (2:07 p.m.) against Saginaw, John Dean has delivered one message in particular.
“We want to play value-based hockey with good habits, and carry those over into the playoffs,” said the Hounds head coach. “Whether these last three games have statistical meaning or not, we have to continue to be a team that’s habit-and-value-based.”
In the simplest of terms, Dean is looking for his charges to stick to the team’s identity.
Asked for specific areas in which he seeks continued improvement and consistency, the coach began by saying: “Everywhere.”
Dean went on to list “compete level, structure, pace of play, keeping our feet moving, blocking shots, getting above the puck and managing the puck properly. Those are the things we’ll talk about.”
Fresh from Saturday’s 5-2 victory in Owen Sound, the Soo carries a 43-17-3-2 record into Wednesday’s clash with the Sting (24-37-3-1). That’s good for second in the West Division, five points back of first-place Saginaw (47-16-1-1).
Both teams have three games remaining.
London (48-14-1-3) is tops in the Western Conference, four points up on the Spirit, although the Knights have just two games left.
Kitchener (41-22-2-0) is locked into fourth place in the conference.
Though they’re still mathematically alive in the division race, which would be good for second place in the conference, the Greyhounds are likely to finish third in the conference standings.
That would set them up for a first-round playoff series against the No. 6 seed, either Erie, Guelph, Owen Sound or Flint. All four of those clubs can finish anywhere between fifth and eighth.
Meantime, having reviewed video of the weekend game against the Attack, Dean said he was “pretty happy” with the Hounds overall showing.
However, he went on to say his team “was a little soft on details. We had a really-good third period, and a good bounce-back, as we normally do in the third.”
Now into the final days of the regular season, Dean was asked whether he is considering resting some of his players who have typically played heavy minutes this season.
Defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev is an example of those who’ve played a lot.
While he said no decision has been made, the coach hinted that such a plan is a possibility.
“We’ll do some digging this week and see where things go after Wednesday,” Dean added. “But there’s definitely some potential to manipulate the lineup a bit over the last couple of games.”
Since Dean dropped anchor in the Sault in 2018, this season marked the club’s second with at least 40 victories.
The Hounds also won 39 times in 2021-22, a year after an entire season was lost due to COVID-19.
Asked what has made him most proud of the Hounds performance, the coach spoke of the quality people and high-character individuals he has the pleasure to work with.
“It’s so cliché, but I’m so impressed with the way these guys get along on a day-to-day basis, and how much they value their time together.”
Dean also talked about how much the players “care for each other off the ice. I’ve never seen a group hang out like this,” he added. “There are times when I have to ask them to leave the rink.”
Questioned about the status of rookie winger Travis Hayes, idle for the last nine games with an upper-body injury, the coach was optimistic.
“There’s a real good chance you’ll see him in the lineup this week,” Dean said.
