![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.ontariohockeyleague.com\/uploads\/sault-ste-marie_greyhounds\/2021\/10\/07234858\/Greyhounds_Gazette-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo courtesy of <\/strong>Hailey Tripodi<\/strong> In a playoff series where miscues are magnified, a couple of second period lapses were surely problematic for the Soo Greyhounds on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n The Kitchener Rangers took advantage of the mistakes to score twice, before adding an empty-net tally in a 3-1 victory over the Hounds in front of 7,352 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.<\/span><\/p>\n Able to hold off the charging Greyhounds in the third period, the Rangers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven, Western Conference semifinal, heading into Game 2 on Sunday (7 p.m.) at the Aud.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe felt the opportunities against were self-inflicted and very much inside our control,\u201d said Hounds head coach John Dean. \u201cThose were unnecessary mistakes. You want to make the opposition beat you, you don\u2019t want to beat yourself.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA couple of bad plays ended up in the back of our net. But the guys got the nerves out in the second period,\u201d added winger Marco Mignosa, whose team had been outshot 22-13 through 40 minutes, before taking control of play in the final frame. \u201cWe got better as the game went on and had a really dominant third period.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n After a slow start in the opening frame \u2013\u201cIt wasn\u2019t Hounds hockey,\u201d Mignosa explained \u2013 the Hounds fell into a 2-0 hole in just over eight minutes in the middle period.<\/span><\/p>\n After Mignosa drew iron with a shot early in the second, the Rangers got on the board at the 2:15 mark.<\/span><\/p>\n Carter George stopped a Gabriel Chiarot shot from the right-wing circle, but the rebound came out to the front of the net. Haeden Ellis got inside of defenceman Spencer Evans and banged it home.<\/span><\/p>\n Ellis notched his second of the night at 8:05. Following a Carson Andrew turnover in the neutral zone, Alexander Bilecki sent the puck to the net from the right circle. On the backhand, Ellis redirected it through the five-hole for a 2-0 advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n George kept his team alive with a big stop on Tanner Lam just 1:49 before the second intermission. In the first period the veteran netminder made a great pad save on Sam O\u2019Reilly with 5:40 remaining.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCarter was great. He bailed us out of a tough first 20,\u201d said Dean.<\/span><\/p>\n The Hounds were a different team in the final frame, out-skating and outshooting the home side 15-4 for a 28-26 advantage overall.<\/span><\/p>\n Brady Martin rang one off the post early in the third.<\/span><\/p>\n At the 6:25 mark, Quinn McKenzie came streaking down the right wing, before firing from a bad angle and beating goaltender Christian Kirsch high on the short side. That trimmed the Soo\u2019s deficit to 2-1.<\/span><\/p>\n But Kirsch was equal to the task the rest of the way. Sam O\u2019Reilly capped the scoring with an empty-net tally with 1.3 seconds left in regulation.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAfter that third period, we know we\u2019re a great team when we play Hounds hockey and compete hard,\u201d McKenzie said. \u201cOur forecheck was great, we were beating them to pucks and we didn\u2019t slow the game down at all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re really proud of the resiliency of our group,\u201d said Dean. \u201cI really liked the way we progressed over the course of the 60 minutes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n During a postgame interview on the Rangers TV broadcast, head coach Jussi Ahokas didn\u2019t like the way his club finished up on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNot our best third period,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we got the job done. The last three minutes, we defended really well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ahokas also appreciated the performance of the line of Ellis between wingers Lam and Chiarot.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGreat job by our third line,\u201d he said. \u201cThey worked, they worked. Ellis, great goals, and Chiarot played unreal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Chiarot and Bilecki contributed two assists each.<\/span><\/p>\n As a team, the Hounds will review video on Saturday and make any necessary adjustments prior to Sunday\u2019s clash.<\/span><\/p>\n Dean agreed his charges need to play a cleaner game.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have to get rid of the self-inflicted mistakes and puck-management issues,\u201d he began. \u201cWe need to bear down on our chances. I thought we generated more than enough to score some goals tonight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe need to tighten things up in the D-zone, win more battles and have a little more desperation on the defensive side,\u201d added Mignosa. \u201cIf we come out flying and play the way we did in the third, we\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Notes: <\/strong> \u201cBut he\u2019s getting close,\u201d the coach added.<\/span><\/p>\n Winger Justin Cloutier is day-to-day after missing the game for precautionary reasons, related to the E. coli infection he battled through over the fall.<\/span><\/p>\n Dean said he couldn\u2019t predict whether the overage would be available on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n Meantime, Windsor stopped Flint 4-2 on Friday in the first game of the conference’s other semi.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ‘After that third period, we know we\u2019re a great team when we play Hounds hockey and compete hard. Our forecheck was great, we were beating them to pucks and we didn\u2019t slow the game down at all.’ – Quinn McKenzie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":475,"featured_media":92630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1007],"tags":[{"term_id":104,"name":"game-recap","slug":"game-recap","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":106,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":338,"filter":"raw","term_order":"521"},{"term_id":10,"name":"Greyhounds Gazette","slug":"greyhounds-gazette","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":766,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":518,"filter":"raw","term_order":"540"},{"term_id":11,"name":"Peter Ruicci","slug":"peter-ruicci","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":389,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":528,"filter":"raw","term_order":"841"}],"class_list":["post-92629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-game-recap","tag-greyhounds-gazette","tag-peter-ruicci","category-1007","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2026\/04\/10231655\/Apr10_Story.jpg",640,360,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":92627,"date":"2026-04-10T23:04:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T03:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/?p=92627"},"modified":"2026-04-10T23:04:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T03:04:47","slug":"video-soo-kit-gm1-april-10-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/video\/video-soo-kit-gm1-april-10-2026","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO; SOO @ KIT \u2013 GM1 \u2013 April 10, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":92628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[{"term_id":2,"name":"Game Highlights","slug":"game-highlights","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":112,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":481,"filter":"raw","term_order":"508"}],"class_list":["post-92627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video","tag-game-highlights","category-112","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2026\/04\/10230432\/GM1_Apr10_Highlights.jpg",1200,675,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":{"video_id":"2557799","partner_id":"31005","player_id":"47888","width":"16","height":"9","360p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31005\/sd\/2557799.mp4","240p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31005\/ld\/2557799.mp4","480p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31005\/hsd\/2557799.mp4","1080p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31005\/fhd\/2557799.mp4","hls":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31005\/streaming\/2557799\/2557799.m3u8","webp":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31005\/webp\/2557799.webp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":92618,"date":"2026-04-09T18:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/?p=92618"},"modified":"2026-04-10T23:19:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T03:19:27","slug":"greyhounds-ready-to-sacrifice-for-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/article\/greyhounds-ready-to-sacrifice-for-each-other","title":{"rendered":"Greyhounds ready to \u2018sacrifice for each other\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":" by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies<\/strong><\/p>\n Talk about boiling it down.<\/span><\/p>\n Soo Greyhounds defenceman Callum Croskery believes the series with the Kitchener Rangers comes down to two simple words.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur team is built around belief and brotherhood,\u201d said Croskery, a first-year defenceman, whose club is set to begin its best-of-seven, Western Conference semifinal with the Rangers on Friday (7 p.m.) at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. \u201cWe\u2019re very excited and very confident going into this series. And we\u2019re appreciative of the insane opportunity we have to go and play such a good team. It\u2019s going to be fun.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Asked to amplify his thoughts on the two words he spoke of, the Oakville, Ont., native talked about how each Greyhound believes in the players around them and in the coaching staff.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe trust each other that we\u2019ll all sacrifice and do the right things. We believe we can do anything with this group,\u201d Croskery added.<\/span><\/p>\n As for his reference to brotherhood, the six-foot-one, 180-pounder, said the importance of camaraderie can\u2019t be overstated.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGuys on this team are ready to go to war for each other and sacrifice for each other,\u201d Croskery noted. \u201cWhen you\u2019re doing it for the guy beside you, it\u2019s a lot more powerful than just doing it for yourself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And what the Greyhounds are going to have to do is find a way to beat a club that finished first (47-14-5-2) in the Western Conference. The Rangers swept eighth-place Saginaw in the conference quarter-finals, while the fifth-place Hounds (39-23-1-5) eliminated fourth-place London in five games.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a really-good hockey club. They\u2019re well-structured, organized and consistent with their brand,\u201d Hounds head coach John Dean said of the Rangers, who also play host to Game 2 on Sunday (7 p.m.), before the series shifts to GFL Memorial Gardens next Tuesday and Thursday (both at 7:07 p.m.). \u201cThey\u2019re very-threatening off the rush and generally, they\u2019re above the puck. I have a lot of respect for the way they play and I think it\u2019ll be a great series.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So what will it take to stop a Kitchener club which finished behind only Brantford (48-10-8-2) in the OHL\u2019s overall standings?<\/span><\/p>\n While respecting his opponent, Dean, as he often has this season, spoke of how he\u2019s more concerned with his club doing the things it must do.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe want to play with a lot of pace and take away time and space,\u201d the coach began. \u201cWe want to be a team that manages the puck well. That\u2019s going to be extremely important because they\u2019re very deep up front. We don\u2019t want to give them a lot of transition opportunities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n With multiple games now under their belts, centre Brady Martin and defenceman Chase Reid \u2013 both of whom missed big chunks of the regular season due to injuries \u2013 have made the Greyhounds a much-better team.<\/span><\/p>\n A club which dropped four out of five to close the regular season, skated with renewed clout against the Knights.<\/span><\/p>\n What has Dean seen from his players during a week of rest and preparation?<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen excitement, commitment to detail, I\u2019ve seen a group that is staying even-keeled,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut also a group that is very excited to be participating in the second round.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Rangers have proven themselves a dangerous power-play club. They finished No. 4 in the OHL in the regular season (26.1 per cent) and are fifth so far in the playoffs, converting 4-of-11 opportunities (36.4).<\/span><\/p>\n Dean said he and his coaches stressed the importance of discipline in the London series, and will again against Kitchener.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe best penalty-kill is not to take penalties at all,\u201d he added. \u201cBut our guys did an exceptional job against London and I expect more of the same against Kitchener.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Hounds PK limited the Knights to 3-for-21 (86.7 per cent) with the man advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re up for the challenge of facing the Kitchener powerplay,\u201d said veteran defenceman Spencer Evans. Assistant coach Brendan Taylor \u201chas done a great job of preparing us. Now it\u2019s up to us to execute.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Evans spoke of how the willingness to \u201cput our bodies on the line and block shots,\u201d will be critical.<\/span><\/p>\n As for the Soo powerplay, an up-and-down unit during much of the regular season, the addition of Martin and Reid has things trending in the right direction, Dean said. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While his club was a pedestrian 4-for-23 (17.6 per cent) in the first round, the coach said he believes those numbers are deceiving.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe scored some critical goals and gained momentum from our powerplay in the London series,\u201d Dean explained.<\/span><\/p>\n Asked about how he sees his club\u2019s level of confidence entering Round 2, Dean answered quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have a ton of belief in ourselves. We know it\u2019s going to be a very-difficult series,\u201d he answered. \u201cBut we also plan to put our best foot forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When it comes to playoff matchups, Dean has never been one to label his team as either favorites or underdogs.<\/span><\/p>\n On Thursday, he repeated what he\u2019s said numerous times during the regular season.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur expectation, always, is that we win every game we play in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Notes: <\/strong> Defenceman Brodie McConell-Barker (illness) remains week-to-week, the coach added.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s believed the Rangers have no serious injuries. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ‘We trust each other that we\u2019ll all sacrifice and do the right things. We believe we can do anything with this group’ – Callum Croskery<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":475,"featured_media":92617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1007],"tags":[{"term_id":9,"name":"Advancer","slug":"advancer","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":771,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":139,"filter":"raw","term_order":"250"},{"term_id":10,"name":"Greyhounds Gazette","slug":"greyhounds-gazette","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":766,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":518,"filter":"raw","term_order":"540"},{"term_id":11,"name":"Peter Ruicci","slug":"peter-ruicci","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":389,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":528,"filter":"raw","term_order":"841"}],"class_list":["post-92618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-advancer","tag-greyhounds-gazette","tag-peter-ruicci","category-1007","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2026\/04\/08092247\/Apr9_Advancer.jpg",640,360,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":92614,"date":"2026-04-07T17:55:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/?p=92614"},"modified":"2026-04-07T17:55:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:55:47","slug":"mckenzie-hounds-want-to-win-for-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/article\/mckenzie-hounds-want-to-win-for-each-other","title":{"rendered":"McKenzie: Hounds \u2018want to win for each other\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":" by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies<\/strong><\/p>\n Having recently lived it, Quinn McKenzie has a pretty good idea of what it takes to win a championship.<\/span><\/p>\n And he believes the Soo Greyhounds have the necessary ingredients.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEverybody is unselfish. Guys want to win for each other,\u201d said McKenzie, whose club continues preparations for the start of the best-of-seven, Western Conference semifinals against the Kitchener Rangers. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Hounds are slated to leave on Thursday for Friday\u2019s opening game at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium (7 p.m.). Game 2 goes Sunday (7 p.m.) in Kitchener before the series shifts to GFL Memorial Gardens for contests on Tuesday and Thursday (both at 7:07 p.m.) of next week.<\/span><\/p>\n In his first OHL season, the 18-year-old (2007 birth year) centre is fresh from tasting great success at Shattuck-St. Mary\u2019s, an elite private boarding school in Faribault, Minn.<\/span><\/p>\n Last season, with McKenzie playing a leading role, Shattuck-St. Mary\u2019s captured the USA Hockey Tier 1, 18U national championship.<\/span><\/p>\n The native of Cranberry Township, Pa., signed with the Greyhounds as a free agent and wasted little time making an impact. He finished the regular season third in team scoring with 21 goals, 30 assists and a plus-minus of plus-12 in 65 games.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWinning a championship last year was a really-cool experience,\u201d said McKenzie, who posted a 1-2-3 stat line and a plus-3 in five playoff games against the London Knights.<\/span><\/p>\n Along with lauding the Hounds talent, he also believes the intangibles needed to win titles are present.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re not on your (offensive) game, you want to bring a strong defensive game,\u201d McKenzie began. \u201cYou have to work your butt off, every shift, every game as if it\u2019s your last. Everybody wants to help the team. That\u2019s what I see with this group.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The speedy, five-foot-nine, 175-pounder, spoke of how he can\u2019t wait for the conference semis to begin.<\/span><\/p>\n Asked about the keys to defeating the Rangers (47-14-5-2), tops in the conference in the regular season, McKenzie talked about the need for the fifth-place Greyhounds (39-23-1-5) to be consistent.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEach game, we\u2019re going to have to have a good 60 minutes,\u201d McKenzie began, while pointing out how he and his teammates have shown that in spurts this season. \u201cIt\u2019ll come down to how badly we want it. We have all the tools as players and we\u2019ll get all the tools we need from our coaches.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n McKenzie also discussed the need for the Greyhounds to limit turnovers, to avoid defending 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 breaks, and to stay above the puck.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI know Georgie will do his thing,\u201d he said of veteran netminder Carter George, who posted a 1.41 goals against average and a .942 saves percentage against the Knights. \u201cIf we make fewer mistakes, I think we\u2019ll be successful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Having relied heavily on the line of Brady Martin between wingers Marco Mignosa and Jeremy Martin, and the top defensive pairing of Chase Reid and Lukas Fischer, the Hounds are well aware of the need for contributions up-and-down their lineup.<\/span><\/p>\n When it comes to providing secondary scoring, McKenzie is excited for the role he and linemates Travis Hayes and Justin Cloutier will be required to play.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re really determined,\u201d he said of the speedy trio, also known to bring a high level of intensity to the work place. \u201cWe really have to dial in, have a good, 200-foot game and don\u2019t give up much. If we can put some in the back of the net, that would really be helpful to the team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Asked about Cloutier and Hayes, McKenzie said he loves how hard both compete on every shift.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey are two guys you want to be with in the playoffs,\u201d he added. \u201cYou know how badly they both want to win. They\u2019re the definition of team guys.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n McKenzie has a future commitment to play hockey at Penn State University.<\/span><\/p>\n Saying he\u2019s loved his time with the Greyhounds and playing in the Sault \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s been as great as I could have imagined,\u201d he offered \u2013 McKenzie said he\u2019ll \u201cprobably\u201d return here next season.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think it would be best for my development to come back and play in the OHL next season,\u201d he added. \u201cThe Sault has become another home for me this year. I\u2019m just not 100-per-cent sure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But before making that decision, he has business to attend to.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf you can\u2019t get super excited for the playoffs, then something\u2019s wrong with you,\u201d McKenzie said. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Everybody is unselfish. Guys want to win for each other,\u201d said McKenzie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":475,"featured_media":92615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1007],"tags":[{"term_id":9,"name":"Advancer","slug":"advancer","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":771,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":139,"filter":"raw","term_order":"250"},{"term_id":10,"name":"Greyhounds Gazette","slug":"greyhounds-gazette","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":766,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":518,"filter":"raw","term_order":"540"},{"term_id":11,"name":"Peter Ruicci","slug":"peter-ruicci","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":389,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":528,"filter":"raw","term_order":"841"}],"class_list":["post-92614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-advancer","tag-greyhounds-gazette","tag-peter-ruicci","category-1007","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2026\/04\/07160842\/Apr7_Advancer.jpg",640,360,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":92612,"date":"2026-04-06T20:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T00:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/?p=92612"},"modified":"2026-04-07T17:53:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:53:50","slug":"jeremy-martin-turns-opportunity-into-productivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-greyhounds\/article\/jeremy-martin-turns-opportunity-into-productivity","title":{"rendered":"Jeremy Martin turns opportunity into productivity"},"content":{"rendered":" by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies<\/strong><\/p>\n Jeremy Martin identifies Oct. 17, 2025, as the day that changed the trajectory of his hockey career.<\/span><\/p>\n That was when the Flint Firebirds dealt the then 18-year-old (2007 birth year) winger to the Soo Greyhounds for 17-year-old (2008) winger Brady T. Smith. It was an exchange of former first-round OHL draft choices, with the Hounds surrendering a year of eligibility.<\/span><\/p>\n Having turned 19 last month, Martin has blossomed into one of the Soo\u2019s best players and a member of its top line, alongside centre Brady Martin and winger Marco Mignosa.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the most fun I\u2019ve ever had playing hockey,\u201d said the Ajax, Ont., native, who finished the regular season with 26 goals in 54 games in a Greyhounds uniform and 29 overall.<\/span><\/p>\n He\u2019s been a standout winning battles, playing down low, providing physicality, opening space for teammates and shooting the puck.<\/span><\/p>\n Smith, meantime, finished with a 10-8-18 regular season stat line and, so far, owns a 2-2-4 in four Flint playoff contests.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe trade has really meant a lot to me,\u201d Martin continued. \u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed my time here. I love the organization and all the guys are great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n After his 29-14-43 season, Martin had two goals and three assists, along with a plus-minus of plus-5, in the Soo\u2019s first-round playoff series against the London Knights. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Greyhounds are set to open their best-of-seven, Western Conference semifinal against the Kitchener Rangers on Friday (7 p.m.) at the Aud.<\/span><\/p>\n Game 2 is slated for Sunday (7 p.m.), also in Kitchener, before play shifts to GFL Memorial Gardens for Games 3-4 on Tuesday and Thursday of next week (both at 7:07 p.m.).<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, after opening this season with a natural hat trick in Flint\u2019s season opener, Martin had one assist over his next six games. He also had a feeling he could be traded.<\/span><\/p>\n Once he learned he was about to leave for Sault Ste. Marie, he quickly realized he had \u201ca great opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That opinion developed after talking with former Firebirds teammate Connor Clattenburg, who\u2019d previously spent a season and a half with the Hounds. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Martin explained how Clattenburg \u201ctold me he loved his time here. He loved Deaner as a head coach and the group of guys they have here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And it was John Dean who wound up playing a major role in Martin\u2019s uptick.<\/span><\/p>\n The six-foot-one, 190-pounder, spoke of how tough Dean was on him early on, but how that helped him develop.<\/span><\/p>\n And while he has nothing bad to say about the Flint organization, things just clicked for him after donning the \u00a0red and white.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve really enjoy playing under him,\u201d Martin said of Dean. \u201cHe was hard on me, but he also gave me a lot of confidence. He was trying to shape me into a player and trying to get everything out of me. With his help, I kept progressing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So much so, he earned a spot alongside the Soo\u2019s most dangerous forwards.<\/span><\/p>\n Jeremy Martin spoke of Mignosa and Brady Martin as smart, creative players, who also work hard.<\/span><\/p>\n While the club continues to seek more secondary scoring, the top line has become the bellwether to whatever postseason success the Greyhounds have had to date.<\/span><\/p>\n Mignosa (4-6-10), Brady Martin (2-5-7) and Jeremy Martin (2-3-5) have combined for 22 points so far. The trio failed to register a point in both the third and fourth games (a Greyhounds loss) of the London series. But they combined for nine points in the Hounds series-clinching, 4-0 victory in Game 5 last Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a strong body who goes to the front of the net. He\u2019s very good protecting the puck\u00a0 and he\u2019s got a great shot,\u201d Brady Martin said of Jeremy. \u201cIf you give him the puck in a dangerous spot, he\u2019ll put it in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The captain also called the third-year winger a great asset to the line.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMiggy and I both love playing with him,\u201d Brady Martin said.<\/span><\/p>\n Mignosa, at left wing, and Jeremy Martin, on the right side, have both excelled playing their off wings.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe brings a lot of energy, he wins a lot of battles and he goes to the paint a lot,\u201d Mignosa, the club\u2019s top scorer in the regular season (35-54-89), said of his fellow winger. \u201cHe creates a lot of room for us and he\u2019s a great player.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While his linemates are both NHL-drafted players, Jeremy Martin was bypassed in last year\u2019s draft. But Dean has repeatedly spoken of how the Hounds forward deserves to hear his name called this June.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt would be awesome to get drafted,\u201d Martin said. \u201cBut I\u2019m more focused on what we\u2019re doing as a team. We showed in the London series we can play with anyone. Our goal is to get to the Memorial Cup.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Should the Soo-Kitchener series go to a fifth game, it\u2019s scheduled for Apr. 17 in Kitchener (7 p.m.).<\/span><\/p>\n Game 6, if needed, would be played in the Sault on Apr. 19 (7:07 p.m.).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nGAME HIGHLIGHTS<\/a>| GAME CENTRE<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\nDean said centre Chris Brown (upper-body injury), the club\u2019s second-leading scorer in the regular season, will miss his second straight game in this series on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nHounds centre Chris Brown, second on the club in regular season scoring, remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n