The Waterloo Wolves need to get out of their heads and
commit to playing to their potential against their rival Kitchener Jr Rangers.
With another lopsided defeat to the Rangers, the Wolves had
glimpses of competing and showed they could play with the Rangers, but one poor
turn over after another and costly mistakes in dangerous areas once again cost
the team.
Credit to the Rangers. They are a really good hockey team.
They play fast, hard and compete for the full game. There are a lot of things
about the Rangers team that any hockey fan can appreciate, and the Wolves need
to appreciate the lessons they are getting from playing them.
For one, play on the right side of the puck. Too often the Wolves
are soft and out of position. The little things in the game are not getting
enough attention. The drive to make the little plays are not there. You look at
the Rangers, and they play convicted to complete each little detail. Which,
clearly, leads to wins.
Another lesson, shut up and play. Let your play do your
talking. Too often in the game the Wolves gifted power plays and yapped. Against
a good team you do not want to give them any motivation or help. And, taking
dumb penalties and talking too much does just that.
Ciaran Guitton-Quayle sure showed up to play in the game. GQ
played one of the strongest games of the season. He was a big part of why the
game was respectable for as long as it was and he played lights out for his
team.
Once again, which has been the case all season long, the Wolves
were forced to play shorthanded and play with guys who were not 100% healthy. To
say this season’s been a handful in terms of roster moves, would be an understatement.
The Wolves had Logan Murtha, Owen Ottens and Ben Sawyer healthy. Jackson Hunter
likely should not have played but did so feeling very sick and put in an honorable
effort. The Wolves also called up Cole Gardiner who has played so much with the
team that they are almost out of allowed games with him.
Up front the Wolves were slightly healthier. Logan Landry
continues to be in the LTIR and a couple guys were suffering from the same
virus as Hunter. Despite that the team saw some great effort out of Carter
Talboom, Cam Murray and Hiatt Rich. The trio had jump all game. Casey Ross,
Dell Wang and Grayson Seiling had several good shifts and came close to getting
the Wolves on board. Another solid line of Reed Rozema, Allan Wang and Ben
Schofield created opportunities for the Wolves.
In the end it was a better kick at the can than game one against
the Rangers, but not good enough. A lot of the issues are mental. The Wolves
need to pay better attention to the details of their game and focus on playing
the game not the sideshow stuff. The bright side is that the Wolves are likely
to see the Rangers several more times and if the team can take the lessons and
apply them, they will be ready to compete by the team meaningful games start in
playoffs.
Go Wolves!