It was a perfect weekend for the Haliburton County Huskies who recorded their first wins of the new Ontario Junior Hockey League season – including a shutout on the road against table-topping Toronto Jr. Canadiens.
After dropping a 3-2 result to the Mississauga Chargers Sept. 11, the Huskies responded by putting the North York Rangers to the sword 5-1 in Minden on Saturday afternoon before recording a 4-0 win in Toronto on Sunday.
The results see the blue and white climb to sixth position in the East Conference standings with four games played.
Head coach and general manager Ryan Ramsay told The Highlander his team is improving every day.
“When you drop your first two games, panic kind of goes around the room… so to bounce back the way we did, it just we have. Guys are learning, they’re getting used to their new surroundings, new team, new life. They’re starting to buy into what we preach as Huskies hockey,” Ramsay said.
Pre-season was a stop-start affair for Ramsay, who had to wait a couple of weeks longer than he wanted to get players here. That’s the nature of playing in cottage country, Ramsay said. Add in that it’s a younger roster this year, with players keen to try their hand at Ontario Hockey League training camps, and Ramsay has rarely had a
full complement available.
Injuries have taken a toll too – forward Tyler Oletic is still out with a shoulder issue, though Ramsay noted he’s day-to-day. Seventeen-year-old rookie Chase Del Colombo is also missing after taking a big hit in only his second shift against the Rangers, though locker room leaders Nathan Poole and Ty Petrou returned from minor knocks that kept them on the sidelines during opening week.
Ramsay confirmed they, along with defenceman Raine Nadeau, will serve as alternate captains to start the season.
“We’ll make a decision at some point over who wears the ‘C’, but we’re in no rush,” Ramsay said.
Mississauga 3-2 Huskies
Despite outshooting their opponents 41 to 36 and dominating for good chunks of the game, especially during the second period, the Huskies fell 3-2 to one of this year’s early surprise packages.
Ramsay said the game should have been out of sight for the Huskies early.
“We should have been up 4-0 after the first period,” he said. “Sometimes during games you don’t have a good feeling. Even though we were doing the right things, I felt we needed to capitalize because you know how
it goes if you don’t.”
Deandres De Jesus opened the scoring on the powerplay at 18:44 of the middle frame to give the Huskies a lead heading into the third. It didn’t last long. The Chargers hit a quickfire double early, scoring after 52 and 89 seconds, to sucker punch the Dogs. Adam Smeeton tied things at the 12-minute mark, but Colin Crowley beat Corbin Votary at 13:14 for the game-winner.
Huskies 5-1 North York
The home side fell behind early on Saturday, with Cain Tucker beating Carter Nadon on one of the Rangers’ first dangerous attacks five minutes in.
The Huskies responded well – Curtis Allen tied the game at 11:42, Petrou added a second on the powerplay at 18:42, and Jake Salvatore a third at 19:14. Smeeton made it a three-goal game midway through the second,
with Peter Saroglou giving the fans a late game cheer by scoring shorthanded with 17 seconds remaining on the clock.
Ramsay said he was happy with the performance of second-year stars Smeeton and Isaac Larmand.
“They didn’t play much last year but now they’re stepping up and really contributing, being leaders and good examples for the rest of the team,” Ramsay said.
Huskies 4-0 JRC
The blue and white improved to 2-2-0 with a flawless display in the city, capped off by a hat-trick from rookie forward Sam Black – a recent addition from the OHL’s Barrie Colts – and a shutout by Votary.
Poole scored the game’s first goal 4:53 into the first, assisted by Alex Bradshaw and Carson Littlejohn, before Black exploded – with all three tallies coming in the second. Bradshaw assisted on two, as did blueliner
Ethan Wright, with Poole and Nadeau also recording helpers.
“It was a full-on team effort; every line was going hard. We had another four breakaways we didn’t score on. We played well in every aspect,” Ramsay said.
The coach hopes, in Votary and Nadon, the Huskies a tandem they can rely on all season.
The Huskies are back in action Sept. 20 with a road game against the St. Michael’s Buzzers before welcoming the Aurora Tigers to Minden Sept. 21. Puck drop is 4 p.m.
