The Haliburton County Huskies are the most in-form team in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) right now, riding an 11-game point streak, which included a 3-2 win over the table-topping Stouffville Spirit in Minden Jan. 3.
The blue and white won five games and dropped one in overtime over the holidays, surging up the East Conference standings. The Huskies sit in fourth place, level on points with the Pickering Panthers in third, four back of the Trenton Golden Hawks in second, and nine behind the Spirit.
Head coach Jordan Bailey lauded his young squad for their efforts over a busy festive period, saying he felt they played a near-perfect game through two periods on home ice against Stouffville this past weekend. Goals from Julius Da Silva, Ronen Macfarlane and Brady Coe set the team up for an epic win.
“We played very well through the first 40 minutes, then in the third they came out with a big push as a first-place team would, which put us on our heels,” Bailey said. “I thought we did a good job at keeping everything to the outside, blocking shots when we needed to. Owen Edwards had a really strong performance in net too, he shut the door when we really needed him,” Bailey said.
There was a raucous atmosphere in the home dressing room after the win, Bailey noted.
“It was a good feeling, a very good hockey team to beat. It’s nice for our guys to see that we’re right up there with the top teams in the league,” the coach added.
The team’s holiday run began Dec. 18 with a 2-1 overtime defeat to the Oakville Blades in Minden. Daniel Tout had the Huskies’ lone goal, assisted by Josh Hutton and Liam Oravsky.
It was the second ‘Battle of Hwy. 35’ of the season Dec. 19, with the Huskies making amends for a November loss to the Lindsay Muskies by downing them 2-1 in their own barn. Christopher Brydges got things going with his seventh goal of the season, on the powerplay, three minutes in, with Isaac Larmand doubling the advantage at 10:33. Lindsay rallied in the third, breaking Edwards’ shutout a minute in through Nick Galeazza, but the Huskies dug in and came away with the win.
A four-game homestand Dec. 29 to Jan. 4 saw the Huskies rally off successive wins over the Mississauga Chargers, the Muskies, the Spirit, and Newmarket Hurricanes.
The team made a great start against the Chargers, firing 21 shots in the opening period. They only tickled the twine once, though, with Chase Del Colombo beating the impressive Owen Leonard 13 minutes into the opening frame, teed up by Liam Oravsky and Coe.
With Mississauga chasing the game, Larmand added a late empty-net goal in the third, scoring at 18:36 from Carson Durnin and Ryan Gosse. Isaiah Socha then scored for the Steelers at 18:59, giving Larmand the game-winner.
It was a back-and-forth game on New Year’s Eve, with the Muskies eager to avenge their earlier defeat. Da Silva opened the scoring nine minutes into the first, assisted by Hutton and Kaiden Thatcher, but the Muskies hit back with goals from Nole Faulkner and former Husky Vincent Gazquez either side of the first intermission.
Oravsky tied the game midway through the middle frame, with Gosse adding a third seven minutes into the final period. The Muskies tied things again at the 10-minute mark, but Da Silva secured the points for the Huskies with his 12th goal of the season at 16:49, assisted by Durnin and Luis Sturgeon.
“Any time you’re playing the closest team to you, and you have that little rivalry… there’s a want to win that little bit more, certainly from the fans. It puts a little more pressure on the game, but it’s good for our guys. They enjoyed coming away with two wins,” Bailey said.
After beating Stouffville on Saturday, the Huskies followed up with a 5-4 win over Newmarket on Sunday. Goals were scored by Carter Petrie, Nic Ferrante, Kieran Raynor, Del Colombo and Larmand, who had another game-winner.
The Huskies now have a three-game road trip, visiting the Spirit Jan. 8, St. Michael’s Buzzers Jan. 11 and Trenton Golden Hawks Jan. 16. They’ll be home Jan. 17 for a tilt with the Aurora Tigers (6 p.m. puck drop).
