Rewind the clocks back to the last day of tryouts and
compare the Waterloo Wolves roster to the one that played in this past weekend’s
games, and you will notice nine names are missing from the Wolves roster.
Nine.
Let that sink in a moment.
There is no question whether the team has suffered from
injuries to date. Add in the early tryouts and the changes that came with that,
the Wolves roster has been under attack all season.
That said, the players who were on the ice for the Wolves 5
to 4 loss to the London Jr Knights Green and 4 to 3 win over the St. Thomas Jr
Stars, have grown and shown their worth in ways that might not have been available
with a full roster.
Sometimes a coach doesn’t know what he has until he must put
them in positions, he never expected to put his players. So, credit all the
guys for doing all the different things asked, filling any hole needed and
working so relentlessly to earn points for the team.
It has been special watching these guys earn respect shift
after shift.
In London, the Wolves trailed early after starting the game
in the box on the second shift of the game. But Grayson Seiling scored to tie
the game from Casey Ross. The Knights went up 3 to 1 after that however, but
the Wolves were not about to give up. First, Reed Rozema scored from Jackson
Hunters, then Owen Ottens scored from Ben Schofield to tie the game. The
Knights would score again, and the Wolves kept pace with Schofield scoring from
Logan Murtha but the Wolves ultimately wouldn’t be able to pull off the hard-fought
win. Jake Howard battled in net for the Wolves and made it possible for his
team to stay in and almost earn a point.
Perhaps playing from behind is not the strategy the team
should use moving forward. Once again, the Wolves surrendered an early goal
only to tie the game again. This time it was Ross who tied it from Ottens and
Rozema. The Stars then scored twice to get that two goal lead. Then Seiling
scored from Ottens and Rozema scored from Ross and, recently signed Cole
Gardiner, to tie the game. Seiling put home the winner from Rozema. Ciaran
Guitton-Quayle picked up the win and a large bruise saving one off his neck.
Guitton-Quayle followed in Howard’s footsteps working hard and giving his all
to keep his team afloat. Both goalies have been fantastic all season. It was
nice to have the return of Allan Wang in this game too. Wang added a nice
amount of energy into the lineup.
It was a weekend of hard work. Cam Murray and Hiatt Rich
deserve mention in the hard work of the team. Both players played with fire in
their bellies. Murray was none stop looking to break pucks out of his end and
get them deep. Rich was supporting the puck and tireless in his efforts trying
to do all his coaches demanded of him. With Christopher Ding, Dell Wang, Carter
Talboom, Ben Sawyer and Logan Landry all sidelined with injuries, the team
needed such an effort.
With some luck the team might have a couple bodies return to
the fold for the Sudbury Silver Stick tournament this weekend. The team has
come to learn how to play with whoever is ready to go and has created a “next
man up” mentality that the coaches hope will only pay off when and if they ever
play a game this season with a full roster.
Way to go Wolves!