The Soo Greyhounds are in beautiful Erie PA for their double header of sorts tonight (Thurs) against the Otters. The Hounds squeaked a win out 5-4 against the same teenagers here in the Soo this past Sunday afternoon. To say this is a long road trip is an understatement. When the kids return home with hopefully 6 points they will need physio on their legs as they will have sat in the Hounds tour bus for the equivalent of 2072 kilometers; assuming they cut through Michigan after the Sarnia game.
These long road trips make life long friends out of mere teammates and as grueling as they can be, I am pretty sure the boys look forward to them.
Anyway; we will see if the scoreboard gives the Otters some kind of confidence as the Hounds pretty much had their way with them here in the Soo, but the score sheet didn’t reflect it as you know if you watched/attended the game.
ERIE OTTERS
Coach B.J. Adams
GM Dave Brown
Record 4-11-1
In order for the Otters to beat the to octane fueled Hounds they will have to clog the middle, intercept passes and stay with their man. The last game showed the Hounds with puck possession most of the night and a lot of room to maneuver. Another strong performance by Nolan Lalonde will be needed to keep one of the best road teams from lighting things up. Up frontĀ Elias Cohen may be one to watch tonight as he had a great game against the Dogs this past Sunday picking up 3 assists. It was probably a toss up between him and Lalonde in receiving the 3rd star the other day.
SOO GREYHOUNDS
Coach John Dean
GM Kyle Raftis
Record 11-7
The Hounds will be getting some pushback tonight as the last time the teams met, the scoreboard showed a close match even though that isn’t the full story. The Hounds will have the edge for many reasons, but need to put in a full 60 minutes and work on their concentration and focus, and stay out of the penalty box. Two of Erie’s goals last week came on the powerplay.
This will be Jacob Holmes second game back from his layoff due to the injury he sustained to his eyelid, and will be more comfortable and will add another layer to the Hounds attack. Kerins, MacKay, and Kartye will lead the way as always and Carlisle will just keep building his resume for the draft when he is eligible.
On another note; it was nice to see Ryan O’Rourke and Robert Calisti OFF the scoresheet…in the penalty column. Both of our top D men played a well disciplined game last weekend and we need more of it. Both of these kids are solid keeping the puck away from our goaltenders, but they are also a scoring threat so the more time on the ice than off…well the math is pretty easy.
If these two can continue to play disciplined tonight; the Hounds will probably bus out of Erie with two points.
HOUNDS HISTORY WITH CHRIS SKI
On this day in 1999, former bench boss Paul Theriault didn’t mince words regarding his thoughts on the Hounds loss to North Bay.
Chris and I will be working out the kinks, so if you want to read this old piece of history lol, just Zoom to 500% magnification; but the title says it all.
Coming up Friday; Interview with Coach John Dean.