A familiar face is back in the Haliburton County Huskies family as goalie Tyler Hodges returned for a pair of weekend road games.
The 6-foot-2-inch left-handed goalie played with the team in the 2022-23 season, recording 13 wins and five losses. His goals against average was 2.00 and save percentage 0.931.
Hodges spent the 2023-2024 season and the start of the 2024-2025 season in the British Columbia Hockey League.
Head coach and general manager Ryan Ramsay said, “it was good timing. We needed a goalie. He’s a great goalie who has developed a lot the past couple of years. He’s got a scholarship to play NCAA Division 1 at Dartmouth [next year], so this is a massive deal for us to bring in a legit number one.”
The Huskies had traded Corbin Votary to the Maritime Junior Hockey League, leaving them with rookie Carter Nadon. They had brought up a 17-year-old affiliate player the Nov. 30-Dec. 1 weekend, but were looking for a starter.
Ramsay added the Huskies know what they are getting with Hodges so, “it’s nice to get that familiar face and knowledge of what he can do.”
Ramsay said Declan Bowmaster is also back, reacquired from the Collingwood Blues.
The blue and white split a pair of weekend road games – in which the back stopper only allowed three goals against.
Huskies 1 Dukes 2
On Dec. 8, the Huskies dropped a 2-1 decision to the Wellington Dukes on the road.
The home team began the scoring, with Cory Jewitt firing one in at 5:23 of the first period.
The tight contest did not see its second goal until, with just three seconds remaining in the second frame, Sacha Trudel scored to put the Dukes up 2-0 heading to the third.
In the final frame, the Huskies Nathan Poole fired in his 14th of the season, at 17:09, from Alex Bradshaw, with his 17th dish, and Carson Littlejohn, his 22nd.
The Huskies had 31 shots while Hodges turned aside 13 of just 15 shots.
Ramsay said they outplayed Wellington for much of the game. “Our powerplay had really good looks but we just couldn’t score. That’s something we’ll have to address this week and try to maybe tweak some things here and there.”
Huskies 4 Buzzers 1
On Dec. 6, the Huskies handled the St. Michael’s Buzzers 4-1.
Poole opened the scoring for the visitors, with his 13th of the year, unassisted.
St. Mike’s tied it up early in the second on a goal by Hudson Cumming.
But the Huskies answered less than a minute later, as Noah Lodoen punched his third, from Adam Smeeton and Bradshaw.
At 16:40 of the second frame, Vincent Gazquez recorded his fourth tally of the season, assisted by Isaac Larmand to make it 3-1 Huskies headed to the third.
The lone third period marker was Tyson Rismond’s first, from Bradshaw, at 3:32.
Hodges stopped 23 of the 24 shots fired at him.
Ramsay said, “he played great. He made some big saves to not give the momentum to them. We’re happy with his performance this weekend.”
The team is fourth in the competitive East Conference with a record of 21 wins and nine losses, good for 42 points. They are just three behind the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and Dukes, while the Trenton Golden Hawks are starting to separate themselves from the competition.
Ramsay said forward Ty Petrou remains week-to-week. “He might play this weekend, but we’re not sure.”
Next up:
The Pickering Panthers at S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena. Puck drop is 4 p.m.
