Hounds seek validation against Knights
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
These are the kind of matchups where every player locks in – like a hungry lion eyeing up a gazelle.
Just two games into a new OHL season, the Soo Greyhounds view Wednesday’s home game against the London Knights as an important measuring stick.
Each club enters the 7:07 p.m. start having won its first two games.
“I think we’ll be two of the top teams in the Western Conference this year. We see this as an early-season test,” Hounds winger Marco Mignosa said of the contest. “We want to show what we’ve got.”
“This is an early-season test, 100 per cent,” added defenceman Matthew Virgilio, whose club ripped Flint 11-3 on Friday night before rallying for a 7-5 victory over Brantford on Saturday. “I think we can be contenders for the conference final. Every time we play London, now and until the end of the year, it’ll be a huge game.”
While the Knights are widely considered one of the OHL’s best teams as the 2023-2024 season gets rolling, the Greyhounds have received far less provincial attention.
The Soo is coming off a season that included just 20 victories.
According to a number of players, that kind of finish left a bitter taste in their mouths.
“We plan to take the league by surprise,” overage Jordan D’Intino said during the exhibition season. “We’re ready to show everybody.”
Head coach John Dean said there’s little doubt his players are excited about facing the Knights.
Typically, London employs an aggressive 2-1-2 forecheck and the Soo coach noted the importance of his players managing the puck well.
“They’ve always been a really good tracking team and so they make you turn over pucks in the neutral zone,” Dean said.
“They execute their style probably the best in the league,” noted Virgilio, who made a key play at the goal-line on Saturday to keep the puck from entering the net behind goaltender Charlie Schenkel.
The Hounds trailed the Bulldogs 4-1 at the time, midway through the second period.
The second-year defenceman went on to say he and his blue-line mates “will have to make decisions quickly against the Knights and not keep the puck on our sticks too long.”
Dean discussed how proud he was of his team’s comeback on Saturday and the coach will be looking for that same kind of effort for 60 minutes on Wednesday.
In a home-and-home series, London opened the season with a 2-1 victory over Niagara on Friday at Budweiser Gardens. The Knights followed up with a 5-2 win on Saturday at the Meridian Centre.
London made what’s expected to be a key move a week ago, acquiring overage goalie Michael Simpson, last year’s playoff MVP, from Peterborough. In exchange, the Petes received 18-year-old (2005 birth year) netminder Zach Bowen and a third-round draft choice.
“We’re going to have to play well defensively, not take too many penalties and keep believing in our offensive system and our structure,” said Mignosa, when asked about the Wednesday matchup.
The Greyhounds will be minus rookie centre Brady Martin (lower body injury) who is considered week-to-week.
It’s not known whether second-year centre Christopher Brown (upper body injury) will be ready to go on Wednesday.
Following the clash with the Knights, the Hounds hit the road on Thursday for a three-game trip beginning Friday in Sarnia (7:05 p.m.).
The Soo will visit Flint (7 p.m.) on Saturday and Windsor (2:05 p.m.) on Monday.
Notes:
Newly-acquired overage Jack Beck (2-4-6) is the Hounds leading scorer through two games. Owen Allard (3-2-5), Travis Hayes (3-2-5), Arttu Karki (1-4-5) and Brenden Sirizzotti (1-4-5) are tied for second place.
Kirill Kudryavtsev (1-3-4) and Andrew Gibson (0-4-4) are next.
Schenkel, who started on Friday before coming on in relief of Landon Miller on Saturday, has a 2.43 goals against average and a saves percentage of .882.
