Last night in Kitchener Rory Kerins played a complete game and rounded it out in overtime by scoring the winner. Not only did he send the team into the Christmas Break with a win; he assisted on Tynan Tuckers first win since joining the Hounds.

After going up 2-0 in the opening frame, the Rangers battled back only to lose 4-3 in extra innings.

The game resembled what I saw early in the year; passes were tape to tape, the Hounds skated with urgency, and they won the battles on the boards.

Yes of course they were playing a team lower in the standings, but they were also playing shorthanded missing 4 players for reasons of injury and World Junior commitment.

I can only imagine how tough it would be to have to scramble and get kids to play in areas and on lines they are not familiar with. A huge credit to John Dean and his coaching and motivational skills.

That being said, Jordan Smith and Jamie Tardif are just as integral.

Getting back to Tynan; since arriving in the Soo he has had a rough go in his three games played where he has faced at least 40 shots in each of them.  John Dean and the rest of the coaching staff know this is unacceptable if you want to win hockey games.

If it wasn’t for the new acquisition, the Hounds would not have made it to overtime in those games in my opinion.

Last nights game also showed why Andrew Gibson is going to be a dominant player for the Hounds in the future. At only 16 years of age, the young Dog made his presence known with a huge check in the 3rd frame. Although he received a penalty for it; it shows he is not shy and is going to be a presence for this team.

A little birdie suggests that maybe he wanted to get on the scoresheet and well….he did.

Aside from the good outing for the Hounds; another injury may have occurred. For the past few games overager Cole MacKay has been a target and has been on the receiving end of some big hits. Last night in the 3rd he was helped off the ice with what would appear to be a lower leg/ankle injury.

John Dean obviously did not know the status of the injury post game and all we can do is be grateful that the Hounds have 11 days to rest him and recover if it is minor.

On another note; the status of Kalvyn Watson and Tyler Savard is still unknown in respect to when they will return to action, but again; this is great for them to get another 11 days to heal and the Hounds will not suffer from their absence as they don’t return to action until December 29.

Going into the Christmas Break; when the team gets back to practice, I am sure defensive coverage and the penalty kill will the topic to be addressed.

During this time off, I am sure Kyle Raftis will be scouring the league and looking for a fit for Charlie Schenkel as the young kid needs to play somewhere and the Hounds may be in the market for a strong stay at home defenceman in my humble opinion.

Scoring for the Hounds were Russian Import Kirill Kudryavtsev with a beautiful offensive zone rush and wrap around, Jordan D’Intino with his 3rd OHL goal, and Tye Kartye who ended up with a goal and an assist as did Kirll.

Next up for the Hounds is December 29 where they entertain the Sudbury Wolves at the Memorial Gardens.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

GO HOUNDS GO !!!