All in all, a pretty good weekend
By Paul Osborne, Guelph Tribune Last week was a tumultuous one of the Guelph Storm. Several players faced media criticism for their lack of leadership and general manager and coach Jason Brooks and team partner Rick Hoyle faced the music in front of over 100 fans at a Town Hall meeting Friday night.
The Town Hall came immediately after the Storm mounted a spirited third period comeback against the Erie Otters Friday night that seemed to boost their confidence for the rest of the weekend. After ultimately losing to Erie 5-4 in overtime, Saturday night they delivered their best effort in weeks to down highly ranked Kitchener 7-4 which paved the way for another decent effort against the equally tough Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors on Sunday. They had their chances to win that game but their inability to clear the puck out of their zone late in the game led to the game winning goal by the Majors. Still, three out of a possible six points for a struggling team was welcome news.
At the Town Hall meeting on Friday night fans voiced some of their frustration with the teams below .500 record. As is usually the case, those fans that vehemently criticize the team on some of those anonymous sports chat rooms, faded into the woodwork when it came to face-to-face criticism, but some fans did ask Brooks pointed questions. After Brooks said he needs his players to “look in the mirror” to ask themselves whether they are doing everything they can to help the team, a fan asked if Brooks and the ownership have been looking in the mirror, and whether they were being accountable to the fans.
Leaning on crutches to take pressure off his ailing back Brooks said he appreciated the passion of the fans and respected their right to have a negative opinion about the team’s performance but assured them no one is more passionate than he is when it comes to the Storm.
“This is my 9th year in Guelph as a coach and I love it here” he said. “I love the city and organization and l look in the mirror everyday challenging myself (to be better).”
I have to give Brooks and Hoyle credit for putting themselves on the firing line when they knew it might not be pretty. It would have been much easier not to have the Town Hall at all. Brooks handled all questions (even the strange ones) in a respectful and sometimes humourous matter.
Players like Peter Holland, Matt Sisca and Cody St. Jacques, singled out for poor play, responded with much better efforts. Holland had a goal and five assists over the three games while Sisca, playing on a line with Holland and Taylor Beck, scored twice and assisted on three others.
St. Jacques, who has struggled against top teams, played solidly against the Rangers then let in two very questionable goals early against Mississauga before shutting the door making 48 saves on the day. He never had a chance on the winning goal as he was completely screened on the play. They lost 4-2 with the Majors adding an empty net goal.
All in all, it was a good weekend for the team with Michael Latta returning to the line-up and the club taking some steps towards returning to form.
It is much too early to say the locals have put their inconsistent play behind them, but at least it was a step in the right direction.
From the Land of Oz…..After coming back from the dead at 4-0 in the third period against Erie to tie the score, the Otters scored in OT to win 5-4. Saturday night Taylor Beck scored three times to lead the Storm over Kitchener….Only captain Matt Kennedy and Evgeny Molotilov remain sidelined with injuries at this point. Molotilov needs surgery and will be gone several weeks and Kennedy is week-to-week with his groin/abdominal pull….When asked at the Town Hall what he would do when injured goaltender Brandon Foote returned in January after missing the season with shoulder surgery, Brooks was non-committal, only saying they didn’t want to rush him back into the line-up. What the fan was really asking was…”Which of your 19-year-old goaltenders will you trade to make room for him in the line-up?” Brooks gave no indication he was willing to trade either at this point…The Storm has two more tough games this weekend playing in London on Friday, then hosting Kitchener Sunday afternoon. In a weird bit of schedule making, the Storm and Rangers play four games between last Saturday and December 18th.
