The headlines should have read: "Somebody Forgot to Tell The Warriors". The story should have followed it up with a piece on how the Thunderwolves were the defending division champions, and we were just planning on steamrolling everything in our path, especially on opening weekend.
Obviously, Waterloo had other ideas. We knew that Coach Taylor had an excellent recruiting year, which has totally changed the complexion of the team we saw last season. They came out hard on Friday night, and executed a simple game plan to perfection. It was based on patience, and waiting for their opportunity. They had to wait well into the third period, but it paid off, with two quick goals, to reverse a Thunderwolves 1-0 lead established by Chris Shaffer in the first period.
Although we have lost games in the past (and will likely lose more) this one was a little different. We did not outwork our opposition, we did not outshoot our opposition and we didn't win battles for the puck. These had all been present in most prior defeats, but not this one. Full credit to the Warriors, handling us the first two periods, and utterly dominating us in the third. Although saddled with the loss, the coaching staff was impressed with Grant McCune's play. Cuner was outstanding in goal, making several key saves down the stretch to give the team a chance to pull it out. Full marks to Andrew Brown as well, who filled in admirably on defence were we were hurting, especially on Friday night with regular blue-liners Mike Self and Drew Kivell serving suspensions picked up during our non-conference schedule.
With Saturday's game being a rare afternoon tilt, it didn't leave much time for a post-mortem dissection of Friday's game. As a coaching staff, we had to approach it almost like the 4th period of Friday's contest. We wanted to make a few adjustments based on getting the puck deep and letting our forwards take control of the game deep in Waterloo's zone. It paid off, with much more of the play taking place in front of Waterloo's net. Shaffer opened the scoring in the first period with a quick shot off the left wing that went through their goalie's legs. The Warriors tied it not long after, getting a good bounce while on a 5 vs. 3 powerplay. In the second, Peter Cava capitalized on a powerplay of our own, and Mark Robinson contributed a well-earned goal to make it three one, after controlling the puck (and several defenders) for an extended period behind the Waterloo net. Captain Scherban rounded out the scoring with an empty netter in the last minute of play. Chris Whitley was solid once again in goal.
Although the split is not exactly what we had in mind, we were happy with the way we responded in the second game to salvage two points from the trip. We were also pleased with our team defence and goaltending, only allowing three goals against the entire weekend. Congratulations once again to Coach Taylor and the Warriors for the strides they have made with their program. They are definitely not the same team that we eliminated two-straight last winter in the playoffs. The combination of their size and the small ice surface at the Columbia Ice Fields works well for them, and they will prove to be a difficult team to beat this year.
This weekend, we open our OUA Regular Season home schedule with a pair of games against the Windsor Lancers. Coach Stenlund will certainly have his troops ready to go, and we look forward to renewing acquaintances with his squad. We had some trouble with them last year, and are looking forward to two tough games down at the Gardens.
See you at the rink.
Darrin Nicholas
Assistant Coach.