From the Stands
By Paul Osborne, Guelph Tribune – Walt Disney once said “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me . . . You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
Well the Guelph Storm got their choppers kicked in and a bloody nose to boot Friday night when they blew a 5-0 lead to an inferior Sudbury squad, losing 6-5 in regulation no less! But have heart Storm fans, your team didn’t crumble, they came back hard to win a thriller Sunday on the road, 3-2 in a shootout over a tough Sault Ste. Marie club.
“It was a good character check for lots of our guys” said coach Scott Walker on the long bus ride back from the Sault. “It was more than just a wake-up call. It showed us how this team handles a little adversity. I sensed embarrassment (in the loss to Sudbury) but we understood afterwards we had to pick ourselves up and keep going.”
Veteran netminder Justin Nichols was in net for all six of the Wolves comeback goals Friday so Walker wanted to throw him right back in the net Sunday.
“When the game was on the line (Sunday) and into overtime, he made three, four or five outstanding saves and then made all three saves in the shootout” said Walker. “He answered the bell and left feeling good about himself. He’s been good for us all year.”
The London Knights, who had won nine in a row, inexplicably lost 3-1 to Peterborough on home ice Sunday, lessening the effect of the Storm loss to Sudbury. The Storm now sits five points ahead of Erie, and six ahead of London. Each team has six games remaining. Guelph holds the tie-breaker against both the Knights and Otters so their magic number is now four to clinch against Erie and three to keep London from the coveted top spot in the Western Conference. The Storm holds their fate in their own hands with four of those six games against Kitchener and Sarnia, the 9th and 10th place teams in the conference respectively.
But you can bet, after their wake-up all in Sudbury, no one will be taking any games lightly.
“This is a tough league,” said Walker. “You have to play 60 minutes because on any given night the league is too close and too tight.”
The Storm learned that the hard way but now have a first place finish in sight. It can’t see them letting the Hamilton Spectator Trophy slipping from their grasp now.
That kick in the teeth is still smarting.
From the Land of Oz…..The Storm went 2-1 on their northern swing. Thursday night they downed North Bay 5-4 behind the strength of Robby Fabbri’s 40th goal of the season. In Friday’s disaster, Fabbri, Zack Mitchell and Puis Suter each had a goal and an assist before the roof caved in. Also of note in that game Marc Stevens scored his first OHL goal. Sunday Justin Auger tied the game for the Storm in the third before Brock McGinn iced it with a goal in the shootout…The Storm play in Kitchener tonight (Tuesday) and host Owen Sound Friday night at the Sleeman Centre for the only home game this weekend…The Storm currently sits with 99 points. The only other time they surpassed the 100-point barrier was in the 2003-2004 season when they had a 49-14-5 record, good for 103 points. They won the OHL Championship that season. The Storm should easily surpass the win and points totals to set records in both areas. As for another OHL Championship, there is a long road ahead before they can even think about that.
