Hounds On Short End of OT Stick/5-4 Loss to Saginaw
On a night when the Hounds grabbed a 3-1 lead and managed 4 goals, they still ended up on the wrong side of the victory column. What is missing? Is it the kill instinct.. and thus preferring to hold onto the lead, or the lack of awareness that a team of Saginaw’s caliber will not quit? Who knows, but as close as the Hounds get to winning games they don’t seem to be able to.
This team is well coached as we know and even Chris Lazary (Saginaw Coach) mentioned that they are in every game and that facing them IF they make the playoffs will not be fun for any team.
In the loss where Sam Ivanov played a strong game the boys must be thinking “here we go again” ; in reference to all of the losses before Christmas where they played well enough to win… but didn’t.
Time is slipping away but I do believe the team will eventually crest but that has to start yesterday.
The trade deadline is about 10 days away and Raftis has given the coaching staff ample time to find out who wants to play and who doesn’t. A move must be made and I can’t stress that more.
There are a couple of players who I will not single out that have been playing below their potential and since sitting these kids is not an option (21st century political correctness) these days; maybe a change of scenery is.
I think a couple of these kid are missing the fact that Raftis is going to build this team into a contender as per the Memorial Cup bid for 2024 and if they don’t start clicking their heels…..they will be watching the Hounds from the other side of the ice.
Strong games by Kirill Kudryavstev and Andrew Gibson made this game enjoyable to watch.
Scoring for the Dogs were Kalvyn Watson, Jordan D’Intino, Andrew Gibson, and Landen Hookey.
The Hounds return to action tomorrow afternoon at the Memorial Gardens against their foe from Sudbury. The Wolves have won only 3 in their past 10 games and I think it would be fitting to give Landon Miller his first OHL start and to give him some experience. Coach Dean really has nothing to lose as he has tried everything all year and maybe a shakeup can jumpstart this team.