Generals lose close game to Pat Canadians
It was shaping up to be a heck of a long afternoon for the Moose Jaw Generals after the first period of their Sask. Midget AAA Hockey League contest with the Regina Pat Canadians December 17 at Mosaic Place.
Instead, they once again managed to make things very interesting. And, once again, lost what turned into the closest of games.
Regina outshot the Generals 21-2 in the first period but only managed a pair of goals. Moose Jaw battled back over the next two frames and found themselves trailing 3-2 late in the third before an empty net goal sealed a 4-2 Pat Canadians win.
“After that first period we started scoring goals, so it’s all about effort,” said Generals forward Ben Wourms-Rowe, who scored on the power play midway through the second. “When you have a good effort you can get rolling.”
The fact they were in the game at all was testament to another solid performance from goaltender Ethan Hein, who finished the contest with 45 saves after the first period onslaught.
“Our goaltender was great tonight I thought,” said Generals assistant coach Kevin Moore. “Being outshot 21-2 in the first, I thought it could have been 6-0 easily. But Ethan made some big saves and kept us in it.
“We were pretty worried as coaches after the first period, wondering what we were doing wrong, but we always seem to have a real hesitant first period. Once the kids get going, we’re good after that, but it’s that first 20 minutes. You don’t want to always be playing catch-up against other teams in this league.”
Casey McDonald had the Generals’ other goal in the third period, scoring on the power play 41 seconds into the frame. Moose Jaw had another close result one night earlier in Swift Current, as they fell behind 3-0 in a back-and-forth battle before dropping a 3-1 decision. Skyler Sangster scored their lone goal with one second remaining in the game. “We’ve been real close all year, we just have to start winning,” said Wourms Rowe. “So hopefully when the new year comes we’ll get our feet under us. We’ve all been in the league for awhile now with all these new players, so now we’re looking forward to getting going.”
The game marked the final pre-Christmas contest for the Generals, who will next see action in the Richmond, B.C. International Midget Hockey Tournament beginning Boxing Day.
The six-team event is comprised of the Everett U18 Elite AAAs, Yale U16 Lions, Mission AZ U18s, Prince George Cougars A1 T1ss and Team Hungary U16s. “It’s going to be fun heading to Richmond with all the boys and hanging out for a bit, playing some hockey, so it should be fun,” Wourms-Rowe said. “We have that really good Yale team that we’ll be playing and I know a couple guys on that team, so it should be a really good test for us to see how we do.”
The Generals play their first game on Dec. 26 against Hungary.