OHL Soo Greyhounds

Hounds Face Adjustments Heading into Belleville

Published on October 17, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Soo Greyhounds News Release


In the midst of the hoopla surrounding the return of team captain Darnell Nurse, who's expected back in the Sault on Tuesday, is this: The Soo Greyhounds have a hockey game to play tonight.

The squad with the Ontario Hockey League's top record, 8-0-0-0, visits the Belleville Bulls (6-2-0-0) for a 7:05 p.m. Start.

Nurse was returned to his junior team on Friday by the NHL's Edmonton Oilers.

Tonight's matchup at Yardmen Arena, which features an Olympic-sized ice surface, provides vastly-different challenges than the Soo faced Thursday in North Bay.

Going up against a big, tough, defensive-minded team caused the Hounds, who depend on speed and skill, some problems.

Despite that fact, the visitors rallied three times and came away with a 5-4 win over the Battalion.

At 200-by-100 feet, the Yardmen features the biggest surface in the league. At 200-by-85 feet, the Essar Centre's surface is typical of the majority of those found in the OHL.

"That size changes a lot of things," said Hounds head coach Sheldon Keefe, whose team completes its three-game trip on Sunday (6:05 p.m.) in Oshawa. "There are certainly going to be adjustments. But for us to be on the bigger ice should be very beneficial. A little extra space should be good for us."

"I'll enjoy it for sure," Hounds speedster Sergey Tolchinsky said of an ice surface he's accustomed to, having grown up in Moscow, Russia. "It gives me a chance to use my speed. I'm expecting more of a skills game than we played against North Bay."

The 34-year-old Keefe thought back to his playing days with the Toronto St. Michael's Majors and Barrie Colts and remembered how the sight lines and depth perception in Belleville wasn't what he was used to.

"And our guys will go through that," the coach added. "But that big ice very much suits us."

Offensively, Keefe spoke of the importance of not spending too much time on the perimeter.

The perimeter in Belleville is a long way from the net, he said.

Defensively, teams must avoid getting caught giving away too much space in the middle of the wide ice.

"We have good speed and we have to use it," said overage winger Jean Dupuy, the star of the game for the Soo in North Bay.

Having started his career in Kingston, Dupuy is more accustomed to playing on a bigger surface than the majority of his Hounds teammates.

"I like it. There's a lot more room," he said. "And the speed games played there are fun."

But Dupuy, who notched a goal and three assists against the Battalion, also offered a few words of caution.

"You have to concentrate more on the middle of the ice between the dots there," he said. "If you leak out too far, you're in trouble. You open up too much of the middle of the ice for the opposition."

Keefe spoke of how he wants to see much better execution tonight than his team displayed against the Battalion.

He said the visitors weren't at all sharp when it came to passing the puck.

"And because of how we play, when we're not sharp, we really look out of sorts," he added. "We weren't crisp when it came to breaking out of our own zone. We still worked hard, but we need to execute better."

The Soo rallied from 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3 deficits.

Jared McCann tied the game 4-4 early in the third period, before Gabe Guertler redirected a Medric Mercier shot past North Bay netminder Jake Smith for the winner with 4:26 left in regulation.

Keefe plans to give second-year goalie Brandon Halverson his eighth start of the season tonight. The coach said there's a chance he'll start rookie Joseph Raaymakers on Sunday in Oshawa.

Check out the Soo Greyhounds Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 17, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central