From the Stands by Paul Osborne
Guelph Storm coach and general manager Dave Barr said last week they needed to capture all six points on their eastern swing this past weekend if they hoped to catch London and Kitchener for first in the Mid-west division. Even though ended with four of six it was still a pretty good road trip. They edged Kingston 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Ryan Callahan, lost to Belleville 4-3 then downed Ottawa 4-2 on Sunday. The 67’s had Saturday night off and for the Storm it was their third game in 2-and-a-half days so it was anything but easy. With the Ottawa win the Storm finished a stretch of six straight games on the road because of the Kia Cup.
“The time away has been good” said Barr as he road the bus back from the nation’s capitol. “We were forced to face some adversity because we were away for so long and had to play three games in such a short span, but worked hard and held it together. It also helps that new players like (Kyle) Wharton and (Jason) Pitton get to know their new teammates that much better.”
The Storm might have won all three games except for a couple of lapses in Belleville. They had a 3-1 lead late in the second before allowing the Bulls to score in the final minute, then two more goals in a span of 10 seconds in the third on rookie goaltender on Jason Guy.
“(Guy) made some big saves for us at the right time to give us a chance to win and all four goals against developed below the goal line around the net and bad coverage resulted in the four goals” said Barr.
The Storm now returns home to face Oshawa on Wednesday and Erie on Friday. It will be the only time Storm fans can watch Generals wonder kid John Tavares. He has just turned 15, yet already has 35 goals on the season.
“I don’t think anybody thought he’d have this type of success this early” marvelled Barr. “He had to make adjustments over the first 5 to 10 games, but since then has been tremendous. I hate to imagine what he’ll do as an 18 year old. Not even 18, he could get 50 or 60 next year at 16!”
With the playoffs just a month away, Barr is feeling pretty good about his team. Goaltender Ryan MacDonald is playing as well as any other netminder in the league and the club is starting to show a little more balance.
“We feel that we have three lines that score on a regular basis” Barr said. “That makes us more difficult to match up against.”
From the Land of Oz?.The Storm’s longest serving scout Wayne Smith, who lives in Ottawa, visited the team during the first intermission of the Sunday’s game. “Smitty”, as he’s affectionately known by all, has been fighting an illness lately and I’m sure had his spirits lifted by seeing “his boys” beat the 67’s. The fact that 16-year-old Jamie Arniel had a goal and an assist and was named the third star was a bonus. Arniel was the drafted in the second round on a high recommendation from Smitty?.The Storm is one of only four teams to have five players who have scored more than 20 goals this season: Ryan Callahan (38), Kelsey Wilson (30), Jason Pitton (24), Matt D’Agostini (21) and Tyler Doig (20)?.The Mid-West division is by far the best division against this season. I got out my abacus this week and calculated the difference between wins and losses in each division (I know?.”get a life!”) and this is what I found as of Sunday afternoon. The East division was a +21, the Central +23, the pathetic West -16 and the marvellous Mid-West +59?.D’Agostini sat out Sunday’s game with a mild concussion?Rookie Leigh Salters who has missed several games with a concussion will be ready to go on Wednesday against Oshawa.
