Players wrestling with end of run MIKE DAVIES EXAMINER SPORTS DIRECTOR
Petes underestimated Steelheads ‘a little,’ Matt Spencer says
Peterborough Petes players are wrestling with the disappointment of their performance in the OHL Eastern Conference final.
After finishing first in the regular season and sweeping their opening two playoff rounds, a fourgame loss in decisive fashion to Mississauga Steelheads wasn’t anticipated.
“We underestimated Mississauga a little,” said Matt Spencer, as the players cleaned out their stalls and had exit meetings with management. “We looked at our record against them in the regular season and, maybe, thought it was going to be a little easier than it was especially after how easy the first two rounds seemed to come to us. Honestly, kudos to them. They prepared really well. We tried to make adjustments but they seemed to be the better team that series. I’m sure we’re all going to look back on that and scratch our heads a little.”
“Sometimes your highs get too high and your lows get too low,” said Kyle Jenkins. “Coming off two series sweeps we were at an all-time high and everyone was happy. In some ways I guess we expected it to be a little easier. We prepared and did everything the right way going into the series we just needed to take it to another level this series. Mississauga was hot coming in. We knew they had two lines that could really dominate a game and carry the play offensively. We couldn’t find the right adjustments to compete with that.”
“That series is not really reflective of how we played as a team this year,” said Steve Lorentz. “You can point out a few different things that went wrong but we did do a lot of good things. They had some superstars on their team who really stepped up. They weren’t really the team we saw in the first half of the season... They excelled. Kudos to them. They’re a great hockey club and kind of the team everyone expected them to be at the start of the year.”
“It sucks to come this far and have it end like that,” said Dylan Wells. “It’s definitely not the way anybody pictured it happening. Once we take a few days to reflect on it and learn from it, it will just make us that much better next season. There are so many valuable lessons you can take out of it.”
“This is something that will stay with me the rest of my life,” said captain Brandon Prophet. “I’m absolutely disappointed in how the season went but, at the same time, really proud of the organization and group of guys we had in the room. It was a great year.”
Prophet recalls speaking at a town hall meeting with fans in September and hearing fans concerns about the team not living up to expectations in recent years.
“Eight months later, I think we’ve had huge success as an organization, a team and a community. I’m really proud of everything we’ve done this year,” he said. “To see the support as the community rallied behind us in the stretch and playoffs was really something special to be a part of. I really hope the tradition continues here in Peterborough.”
NOTES: The Petes will hold their awards banquet May 19 and rookie development camp May 20-21. More details will be announced soon... The earlybird deadline for fans to get 15 per cent off season tickets is Friday. Visit the Petes’ office for details or call 705-7433681... Erie’s Darren Raddysh was named OHL overage player of the year. Runner-up was Owen Sound’s Santino Centorame. Steve Lorentz was a finalist... Owen Sound’s Nick Suzuki was named OHL most sportsmanlike player. Kingston’s Jason Robertson was runner-up. Nikita Korostelev was a finalist.