From the Stands
by Paul Osborne (Guelph Tribune)
Good teams find a way to win.
That is an old sports adage that seems to ringing true for the Storm this
season. They are the only team in the Canadian Hockey League with less than
10 losses this season but they came very close to losing that status with a
less than stellar effort Sunday against Erie.
They have tied the franchise record of 11 straight wins and set the OHL
record with their 8th win in overtime.
Last Thursday they went into London and beat the first place Knights before
beating Oshawa Friday. On Sunday the home side managed to score with 8
seconds remaining in regulation time, then again just 7 seconds into
overtime to send the fans home happy with a 4-3 win, but it was one of their
poorest efforts in recent memory.
Guelph hockey fans are knowledgeable and extremely difficult to satisfy,
there always seems to be something wrong. But this season even the most
pessimistic hockey fan admits this is a tremendously entertaining hockey
team to watch. You don?t see hockey like this in the NHL anymore with the
?trap? taking centre stage. Storm Coach Shawn Camp has his team playing an
aggressive forecheck that creates many scoring opportunities.
They simply got away from that style on Sunday perhaps sensing a wounded
animal in Erie. The Otters had lost four in a row and were missing several
key players so Guelph made the mistake of cutting a few corners and it
almost brought their impressive streak to an end.
?We played like a team that had won 10 in a row? said Camp after yesterday?s
close shave. ?We were complacent and not very patient against a trapping
team. When you win 10 in a row you start sizing teams up and think it?s
going to be easy. With young players they get hard of hearing when you?ve
won so many in a row.?
They had better clean out the wax before tonight?s game in Kitchener because
they will be embarrassed if they play like they did against Erie. They will
be walking into a hornets nest at the Auditorium. The Rangers have won four
in a row and are still stinging after the Storm came into their building 11
days ago and laid a pretty convincing beating on them. Kitchener would love
nothing better to bring Guelph down a peg or two and end the streak.
?The timing is perfect (to play the Rangers)? said Camp, hoping that the
fierce rivalry will get his players attention and get them back to the work
ethic they had a week ago. ?It is amazing how quickly rookies or new
players? pick-up on the tradition and rivalry between the two teams.?
From the Land of Oz?..You often hear about ?the code? between fighters in
hockey. An interesting event happened on Sunday when the Storm?s Cam
Janssen called on Erie tough guy Josh Patterson. At first Patterson
declined the invitation saying he had a sore hand, then he changed his mind.
Janssen took off his helmet but Patterson refused. After that Patterson
just hung on and eventually they fell to the ice without a punch being
thrown. What was interesting was that as the two players headed back to the
penalty box to start the 2nd period, they stopped and had a very gentlemanly
conversation. I asked Janssen what they talked about.
?I just said if we?re going to go, let?s go. He said his hand was sore and
I said, well so is mine. But don?t say you?re going to go and then just
hang on. When we first got together I said ?let?s go toe-to-toe? but he
just wrestled me to the ground. He said afterwards, ?I?m sorry I shouldn?t
have done that? but it?s frustrating.? Later, according to the scorekeeper
in the penalty box Patterson asked Janssen whether he was enjoying his time
in Guelph and what a great opportunity it was to be traded to a contending
team. Just like a sniper and goaltender might talk about a big save or a
pretty goal, scrappers have the same ability to keep business, business. It
is all about respecting the job the other has to do to earn a living.
