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Kings find out what Tecumseh is made of
BY: MARC MIQUEL HELSEN
The plot thickened in Tecumseh Wednesday night.
After doubling up on the Thorold Blackhawks 6-3 at home Apr. 13, the Elmira Sugar Kings were themselves blasted by the Tecumseh Chiefs 6-2 three days later. The loss put the Kings in the middle of the three-team pack; the top two teams in the round-robin stage qualify for the Sutherland Cup final.
Elmira coach Geoff Haddaway didn’t mince words after the game.
“We lost. Got beat. Thoroughly.”
It might have been a simple matter of psychology as the home side came out guns blazing, showering Sugar King goalie Dan Morrison with 15 shots in the opening frame. By comparison, the usually explosive Elmira offense was firing blanks, mustering just five shots.
“They did have a lot of quality shots because they were able to score some power play goals. They shoot from everywhere. I’m not saying that’s wrong, that’s what they do,” said Haddaway, of a team that has registered 102 shots in just two games.
“You shoot and go to the net for rebounds and you can be successful.”
Tecumseh’s Josh Nicol got things going for the Chiefs at 4:02 of the first, converting on a Justin Smith-James Woodcroft helper. Matt Rehman (Matt Paltridge, Justin Hogan) and Ryan Viselli (Paltridge, Jesse Carter) capitalized on Elmira penalties at 12:13 and 17:53 respectively to make it 3-0 before the first intermission.
“They scored three in the first and that really makes it tough against a team that’s as strong as Tecumseh is,” said Haddaway, noting that Tecumseh’s formidable speed is one of its greatest assets.
The Chiefs continued their assault on the Elmira net in the middle stanza, hammering Morrison with 24 shots to Elmira’s frugal nine.
Travis Ouellette (Jeff Broderick, Ryan Viselli), Justin Smith (D.J. Turner, David Sharpe), and Garrett Wilson (Viselli, Paltridge) buried one each to make it a 6-0 game before the Kings got on the board. An unassisted, short-handed goal by the Kings’ Jeff Zippel at 19:06 of the second period, and a power play tally by Garrett Rank (Troy Murray, Dan Morrison) at 13:23 of the third were too little, too late for the visiting side.
Though disappointed, the Kings had little time to dwell on Wednesday’s loss as they were back in action on Friday taking on the Blackhawks in Thorold.
“I think our guys will certainly be a lot more motivated; when you go on the road and you get beat pretty thoroughly; I mean, our guys have a lot of pride, so, we’ll certainly be looking to come up with a more complete effort,” said Haddaway.
Tonight (Saturday) the Kings get a chance to avenge Wednesday’s loss as they take on Tecumseh at the Elmira Arena. Game time is 7 p.m.
Kings take game one of
round-robin series
BY: VANESSA MOSS
It was business as usual for the Elmira Sugar Kings Sunday night at home as they employed a successful season-long strategy to beat the Thorold Blackhawks 6-3 in the club’s first Sutherland Cup series game.
“Obviously after a win you feel good, but at the same time, in a short series like this, you certainly can’t enjoy it too much because you have to concern yourself with the next one,” said coach Geoff Haddaway.
Elmira earned a spot in the series by defeating the Cambridge Winter Hawks Apr. 5 to claim the Cherrey Cup and become Mid-Western Junior Hockey League champions.
Now, the Kings are facing off in a round-robin against the winners of the Golden Horseshoe Conference, the Blackhawks, and the Western Conference, the Tecumseh Chiefs.
After six games, the top two teams will play in a best-of-seven series to determine the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League champion, thus claiming the Sutherland Cup.
Elmira last earned the honour in 2001; its first title was in 1997. Thorold is looking to win its second Cup since a victory in 2005 and Tecumseh is gunning for its first-ever provincial title.
With such a coveted prize up for grabs, Haddaway could not predict how the series will play out, but he did say the Kings are ready.
“I think there are three teams that should feel confident; of course, we’re one of them. I don’t think any team comes into this feeling anything but confident. You just won your own league championships, so certainly all three teams feel good about themselves.”
Taking to the ice Sunday, the Kings set a high standard, snapping three goals in-a-row.
The first two were on power plays as Jeremy Hilliard capitalized on a pass from Patrick Shantz and John Lunney at 9:44, followed by Cal Myerscough’s goal at 10:36 from Lunney and Scott Lepold.
Less than two minutes before the second intermission, Lunney picked up his third point of the game unassisted and shorthanded.
Haddaway said that although the early lead acted as a boost Apr. 13, it could have hurt the Kings.
“It certainly presents another challenge when you have a lead to keep playing hard – not that guys sit on the bench and go, ‘oh, we’re going to give up’ – but it’s a different scenario. You’re not used to it totally, so the mentality is, ‘keep going, keep going, keep going.’
“You’ve got to remember why you’re successful. The reason you’re successful is you’re sticking to your systems and you’re playing hard. So, it’s important that you keep doing those things.”
In response to the Kings’ run, Thorold finally got on the board at 7:11 of the second, only to see the Kings make it 4-1 at 9:19 (Garrett Rank from Brent Freeman) on yet another power play.
At 14:41, Hilliard racked up another point from Brock Zinken, and the Blackhawks took their second of the game at 18:30.
Going into the third period, both teams lost players to the penalty box and gave up a goal each in the process. Elmira’s Trent Brown scored at 8:54 from Lunney and Zinken and Thorold’s Dan Williams netted one from Jim Durham at the buzzer.
“You get referees that are new to both teams and they wanna make sure that they can set the tone and make sure things don’t get out of control. Again, emotions boil over, but I thought for the most part we did a good job of keeping things in check,” Haddaway said of the Kings’ 38 total penalty minutes (Thorold racked up 56).
The final 6-3 score left Elmira up one and Thorold down two in the series; the former lost to Tecumseh 4-3 Apr. 11.
Elmira’s Brock Zinken felt good about his own play and even better about the team effort.
“The whole team in general just played exceptional,” he said. “Everybody did what they were supposed to do from first line to fourth line: everybody was playing their roles and it showed.”
Zinken added that overall, the play was similar to the regular season, albeit at a quicker tempo. But, since the guys did not know what to expect, they gave it their all.
That consistent 60-minute push every game should earn the team the cup, Zinken said, a feat the third-year King would be thrilled to achieve.
“It’s hard to explain. To be so close last year to winning a championship and then just all the years, to do it in my final year would just be unreal.
“I don’t think there’s a guy in the room that can’t see us winning it all this year. You know, you gotta have trust in your teammates and the whole team and coaching staff as well, that everybody’s going to do what they can to win it.”
As the Kings prepared for their next matchup this week, the focus was the same way it has been all year, Haddaway said.
“I think we just again have to concentrate on the way we do things. I think Thorold is a different team than Tecumseh, but they both present great challenges. Again, I think we have to go with a mindset that we go about doing business our way and let the chips fall where they may.”
The coach added that fan support has been great so far and really motivates the team.
“Seeing the signs and hearing the cowbells, it’s great. We still have room for a couple hundred more fans every game, but the fans that are here, it’s amazing. You can just feel the community spirit and our guys certainly like playing in front of them and succeeding in front of them.”