Clearly, the best team will win this, not lose it
Speaking to the hometown paper after Monday night’s loss, the best player on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and leading scorer in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs offered his thoughts on why his side was trailing in the OHL championship.
“We’re letting them win,” Boris Katchouk was quoted in The Sault Star. “We’re beating ourselves and that’s how they’re winning.”
Pretty sure the Hamilton Bulldogs would like to believe they’re having a little something to do with that. But a man is entitled to his opinion and this was his.
Three games into the OHL championship series — Hamilton is leading 2-1 with Game 4 Wednesday night at FirstOntario Centre (7 p.m. on Sportsnet and TSN 1150) in front of a crowd of 7,500-plus that will all be wearing yellow courtesy of a free T-shirt giveaway in the rink — there’s no question the Greyhounds have made some mistakes. There have been some errant passes. There have been some missed opportunities.
There have been some defensive breakdowns. There’s equally no question those errors have, at times, been costly.
But here’s the thing. Despite Katchouk’s position, the storyline so far really isn’t all about the Soo’s deficiencies. The Bulldogs have also been pretty good.
In each game, Hamilton has owned the first period. In those first 20 minutes (during which they’ve outshot the Greyhounds 14-6, 18-7 and 18-7 while generally dominating play) they’ve roared out of the gate and been skating downhill throughout. In those stretches they have been the best team on the ice by a fair margin.
Chalk up that tilted ice to beating yourself or letting your opponent win at your peril. Frankly that’s more suggestive of an opponent that’s super-amped up — defenceman Connor Walters says everyone in the room understands how important the start is — and is more capable of skating with the Greyhounds than perhaps many people thought. Perhaps, even in those in the red and white dressing room.
“I just think they’re not used to playing a team that can skate as well,” head coach John Gruden says. “I think we skate exceptionally well and we can keep up to their pace. And now they’re realizing those mistakes they’re making are catching up to them, like they catch up to us at some times.”
That said, the third periods have been the reverse. Once the final frame begins, the overwhelmed have often been the overwhelming.
In those periods, the Soo has won the shot battle 10-3, 12-9 and 13-2 and had Hamilton hanging on for dear life. At least in part because of self-inflicted wounds by Hamilton.
In fact, you could argue it is Bulldogs’ mistakes that have actually kept this series close so far. A bad few minutes in the opener nearly lost Hamilton the game. Taking too many penalties and serving up two power play goals cost them Game 2. A horrible first goal and three power play goals against made Game 3 competitive.
So while the Greyhounds have had their goof-ups, Hamilton has hardly been perfect. Which suggests that while the Soo might have room to get better, the Bulldogs do, too.
For a team that’s been the first- place team in the province, the top-ranked squad in the country and the outfit that’s been widely seen as a shoo-in for the Memorial Cup all year long, that thought might be a little brain-bending. What if there’s a team out there that’s as good as us? Maybe even, gasp, better.
This is still anyone’s series. But it’s pretty clear now that there’s no longer a favourite and an underdog. Just two sides that could both win this thing.
“I think they’re two good teams. We give them all the credit. They’re a great hockey team,” Gruden says. “But so are we. I think there’s a reason both teams are here, and I think we have just as much right to earn that trophy as they do.”