With four games left in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) regular season, Haliburton County Huskies coach Jordan Bailey said he’s more concerned about getting his team to peak performance levels than plotting their potential playoff path.
After a gruelling run of five games in eight days from Feb. 10-17, where the Huskies won two, lost two and tied one, Bailey said his focus is on getting the most out of upcoming tilts, starting with the Lindsay Muskies on Feb. 20.
The hometown team remains fifth in the East Conference, one point back of the Newmarket Hurricanes in the coveted fourth place that would give the Huskies home ice advantage in the post-season. With only a few games to go, it’s a lock that the Huskies will face either the Hurricanes, Pickering Panthers or Wellington Dukes in the opening round.
“Right now, we just need to make sure we’re playing good hockey leading into playoffs. No matter who we play, they’re all good hockey teams. So, we’re never really looking at it thinking about who would be the better matchup,” Bailey said. “It’s going to be a good series against any of those teams no matter who we draw, so we have to be prepared to give 100 per cent and leave everything on the ice.”
The team began its run with a 4-3 defeat to the Newmarket Hurricanes Feb. 10, before rebounding with a resounding 4-1 win over the second-placed Stouffville Spirit Feb. 12.
Isaac Larmand got the Huskies going with a pair of goals in the second period, with Harrison O’Connor adding a third early in the final frame. Stouffville threatened a comeback, notching on the powerplay a couple minutes after O’Connor’s tally, but Ryan Fairbairn made sure of the result with a late empty-netter.
Bailey said knocking off one of the OJHL’s top teams was a big statement with playoffs around the corner.
“It was very good for us to experience that – we had a full lineup, everyone was healthy and we were able to show that we can compete with any team in our conference,” Bailey said. “There’s not a team that we can’t go toe-to-toe with when we bring our A-game, which was important for our guys to see.”
Overcoming adversity
While Bailey hoped the Stouffville result would serve as a springboard to better things, a flu bug floored several Huskies stars in games against the Dukes Feb. 14, Panthers Feb. 16 and North York Rangers Feb. 17.
Despite racing out to a 4-0 lead against Wellington on home ice on Valentine’s Day, the Huskies had a tough third period, giving up four straight goals to send the game to overtime. Neither team could find the go-ahead tally, leaving Bailey to rue a missed opportunity.
“It was a great lesson – being up so much, your best bet is always to keep playing your game. We don’t need to give teams momentum in moments like that. But we took a bad penalty, then a bounce goes against us and all of a sudden the opposition can smell something,” Bailey said. “We have to do a better job of managing those high and low moments, stay even keel as much as possible and stick to our game plan.”
Several players tried to play through their sickness against Pickering on Family Day, but it was a rough showing for the home team who were pummeled by the Panthers 7-2.
“We didn’t have our best effort… just one we have to learn from as best we can and move forward,” Bailey said.
Against North York, the Huskies rostered three young affiliate players, forwards Joe Szarka and Paul Couvillon and goaltender Aaron Neal, who backed up Owen Edwards. The team played short, with 11 forwards in the lineup.
Bailey said it wasn’t the Huskies best performance, but he was pleased to come away with a 4-3 win. Goals were scored by Carson Durnin, Easton Poe, Ryan Gosse and Carter Petrie.
With the final Battle of Hwy. 35 of the regular season coming Friday, on the road in Lindsay, Bailey said he expects it to be a tough game with both teams jostling for playoff position.
“They’re battling for the eighth seed, so I know they’re going to come out firing. We’ve trying to get home ice advantage too, so we’re going to give it everything we’ve got,” he said.
The Huskies host the Markham Royals in Minden Feb. 21. Puck drop is 4 p.m.
