The Haliburton County Huskies season is over following a 4-1 series defeat to the Newmarket Hurricanes in the opening round of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) playoffs.
After dropping the first three games – losing 3-1 March 7, 3-2 March 8 and 5-2 March 10 – the blue and white stayed alive with a gritty 2-1 win on home ice March 12. They rallied from 2-0 down to send game five in Newmarket to overtime March 14 but couldn’t find the goal that would have brought the series back to Minden.
Bench boss Jordan Bailey felt his young side were unfortunate against an older Newmarket team that boasted considerable firepower.
“It’s never fun losing. I think when you look back, there were points where we did a really good job shutting down their highly skilled players. They’re a very, very good offensive team,” Bailey said. “We just needed to get that timely goal, a break here or there that just didn’t come.”
After losing the first game in Newmarket, Bailey thought his players responded well in game two in Minden. The home side fought for every puck and got their noses ahead through goals from Carson Durnin and Josh Hutton – giving them a 2-0 lead heading into the third.
Things fell apart in the final frame, with individual mistakes costing the Huskies dearly. Bailey felt that was a major turning point in the series.
“We had full control of that game but made three errors and Newmarket scored on all of them… that’s the nature of playoff hockey,” Bailey said. “I didn’t think our performance that period was bad, they just capitalized really well. That was a really tough pill for us to swallow and it changed the whole feel and dynamic the rest of the way.”
While on paper game three looked like a blowout win, Bailey said it was a tight game until a calamitous 20-second spell midway through the third where Newmarket rallied off two quickfire goals, giving then a 4-2 lead. They added gloss to the scoreline with an empty-netter with six seconds left on the clock.
That set up a do-or-die encounter in Minden March 12, where the Huskies kept things tight in a resolute defensive display – earning a 2-1 win.
Kieran Raynor levelled things seven minutes into the first after an early Hurricanes opener, with Luis Sturgeon slamming home the game-winner 16:56 into the middle period, beating Newmarket netminder Carter Froggett with a drive from the blueline. Kaiden Thatcher, Nate Taylor, Liam Oravsky and Isaac Larmand had assists in the win.
“That was the kind of performance we needed a couple other times this series,” Bailey said. “That said, when you’re down 3-0, you can have guys drift off and lose focus – we didn’t see that at all. It was a great group effort, and we showed we weren’t going to just roll over.”
The team stood up to adversity again in game five. Going down 2-0 early on, the Huskies rallied with two power play goals in the second through Larmand and Carson Durnin. Goaltender Owen Edwards turned away 28 shots in the final two periods to send the game to overtime, but it wasn’t to be for the hometown team.
Bailey reserved special praise for the Huskies fans, who created a special atmosphere inside S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena all season and travelled in droves to cheer the team on in Newmarket.
“We had one whole side behind our bench filled with Huskies fans there – I’ve said it multiple times, but the community support is amazing for this team. It gives the guys energy to dig in more and more every game,” Bailey said.
Planning for next season
After a change in approach recruitment-wise this season, Bailey said there’s potential for most of this Huskies team returning next year. Only four players – Christopher Brydges, Jack Cook, Nate Taylor and Carson Durnin are ineligible to play in 2026-27.
“We could have up to 20 of these guys back… it’s a lot different from last year where we didn’t have a lot of returning guys. We should have a really good foundation to build on,” Bailey said.
Whether he’ll be back behind the bench is unknown – Bailey said there will be conversations with general manager and new team owner, Ryan Ramsay, later this spring.
“I’ve loved my time in Haliburton. It has become my second home. If I was offered another contract to come back, It’d be hard to say no,” he said.
He held exit interviews with players March 15, and the team had its end-of-season awards ceremony March 16. Planning for next season will commence soon, with a prospect camp running in Minden May 2-3.
