Haliburton County Huskies head coach Jordan Bailey believes his team has turned a corner after picking up points in six of its last seven games – including back-to-back wins last weekend to propel them up the OJHL East Conference standings.
The blue and white secured confidence-boosting wins over the Pickering Panthers and St. Michael’s Buzzers Nov. 14 and 15, before dropping a 3-2 decision on the road to the Georgetown Raiders Nov. 18. It was the team’s first regulation defeat since Oct. 25, leaving them in seventh place in the division – just three points back of the Panthers in fourth.
“We’re finding our way and figuring things out, definitely feel like we’ve been playing much better hockey as of late,” Bailey said. “We’ve brought in a couple of new players, which has helped our room out and improved our play on the ice. It’s kind of settled the team down bringing in some older guys.”
Earlier this month, the team acquired 20-year-old Carson Durnin and 19 year olds Liam Oravsky and Jack Cook – who turns 20 tomorrow – from the Cobourg Cougars, bringing a veteran presence to a young Huskies squad.
Oravsky has been a revelation, putting up nine points in five games, with Durnin and Cook each chipping in with four points. The star of the show recently, though, has been alternate captain Isaac Larmand, who was named the OJHL’s first star of the week Nov. 17 after notching five goals and adding an assist in the wins over Pickering and St. Mike’s.
Bailey said the 20-year-old winger has taken his game to a new level recently.
“I think he’d been a bit snake-bitten before last week, getting chances that just weren’t going in. We talked a little about that, he’s a guy that sticks with the process, comes in every day to work. I was really happy for him to have that personal success, which gave us team success,” Bailey said.
Big wins
The Huskies kicked off the weekend in the best way, beating the Panthers 4-3 on the road in Pickering.
After falling behind to an early Pickering powerplay goal, Larmand notched his third and fourth goals of the season late in the first, at 12:02 and 15:31, to give the visitors an advantage to defend. Pickering tied things in the second and took the lead early in the third, but the Huskies weren’t to be denied.
The blue and white potted two goals in 62 seconds midway through the final frame – Julius Da Silva tying the game at 9:05, assisted by Josh Hutton and Ryan Gosse, with Nic Ferrante the hero, scoring the game-winner at 10:07 from Hutton and Carter Petrie.
“Our fourth line was massive for us – Petrie, Ferrante and [Lewis] Hergaarden were our best line all night against Pickering. Whenever you can get that kind of secondary scoring from your fourth line, that’s going to help you win games,” Bailey said.
The Huskies followed up with their best performance of the season Saturday at S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena, demolishing St. Mike’s 8-1 on home ice.
Kieran Raynor opened the scoring midway through the first, with Larmand adding a hat-trick, Oravsky enjoying a four-point night and Gosse and Chase Del Colombo also tickling the twine. Eleven of the team’s 17 skaters recorded points in the game, with goaltender Owen Edwards, a recent acquisition from the King Rebellion, picking up his second win as a Husky after stopping 29 of 30 shots.
Bailey said Saturday’s shellacking was a big confidencebooster for his team.
“It’s a good feeling throughout the room knowing that if we stick to a game plan and do the things we need to do, especially against a good St. Mike’s team, these are the kinds of results you can have. It’s nice to get a little more belief in the room,” Bailey said.
Georgetown 3-2 Huskies
Despite firing 50 shots on net, the Huskies fell to their first regulation defeat for three weeks on Tuesday evening (Nov. 18), losing 3-2 on the road in Georgetown.
The two teams cancelled one another out in the first, but it was the Raiders who started quickest in the second – racing away with a 2-0 lead. Oravsky got the Huskies on the board 2:31 into the final frame, but an Aiden Lee penalty shot at 15:03 made it a two-goal game again.
Del Colombo gave the blue and white hope of a late rally, scoring his sixth goal of the season at 18:38, but that was as good as it got for the young squad. Bailey was disappointed with the result, feeling the Raiders were there for the taking.
“We missed the net too much on our chances – we had a lot of good opportunities to score, but we’ve got to hit the net and create secondary chances,” he said. “I thought our first period was really good, their goalie made some good saves, but then we steered away from what we were doing well and cheated the game a little bit.”
The Huskies are in the midst of a four-game road trip, with tilts against the Niagara Falls Canucks Nov. 21, St. Mike’s Nov. 23, and King Nov. 25. They’ll be back at home Nov. 29 for a grudge match against the rival Cobourg Cougars.
