Petes short-handed for this week’s games
SDA, Fraser, McNamara likely to miss all three games with various ailments
The Peterborough Petes will be a bit short-handed for their final three games prior to Christmas break.
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Cole Fraser and Matt McNamara are all questionable for the three games in four nights the Petes have this weekend. The Petes host the Flint Firebirds at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at the PMC, visit the Guelph Storm at 7:30 p.m. Friday and entertain the Ottawa 67’s at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The club will then be off until a Dec. 28 road game against the Kingston Frontenacs. They host the Mississauga Steelheads on Dec. 29.
Petes head coach Rob Wilson said Der-Arguchintsev, who suffered an ankle injury in Ottawa on Sunday, and Fraser, who is battling the flu, are unlikely to play Thursday and are questionable for the weekend. McNamara, who suffered an upper body injury last Thursday, will not see action this weekend. Wilson expects all three to be ready to return by Dec. 28.
The club is also without Zach Gallant who started skating last week on his road back from a broken leg. He’s eyeing a potential return in early January.
Wilson said it will require a full effort from everyone to end the first half of the season on a winning note.
“I think guys understand there is a lot of work to be done before we head out into the Christmas break,” he said.
“We’re pretty focused on trying to get as many point as we can through these three games.”
Wilson said it’s natural for everyone to be excited about the upcoming break so he’s trying to keep the players focused.
“It’s human nature whether they’re kids or adults to look forward to spending time with your family and taking a mental break from the grind and you get excited for it. We’ve tried our best this week to make sure we have our focus on Flint, Guelph and Ottawa. We’ll take it one game at a time and then I really hope they do go home and get a break and enjoy it.”
The last-place Firebirds are having a difficult season with a 3-27-2 record and current sevengame losing streak. Wilson says his team is in no position to look past them.
“I don’t think with the amount of injuries we have and guys in and out of our lineup we can take anybody lightly,” Wilson said.
“We’re very focused on this game and we’re not talking about taking anybody lightly. We’ve done our pre-scout and it is business as usual. We have to be ready to play.”
Wilson sees the last few games before the break and the first few coming out of the break as important parts of the season. The club currently sits in fifth place in the OHL’s Eastern Conference with a 17-13-0 record six points behind the fourth place Oshawa Generals.
“These are both important times for us and if we do go out in good spirits because we’ve been successful I think it will hold up well for us as the year continues and we move into the second half,” he said.
The Petes will play six games in 10 days after the holiday break.