November 23 saw the Waterloo Ice Wolves travel
to Stratford for a mid-season exhibition game.
The Wolves came out strong and full of energy, playing a fast offensive game in the first period. Cooper Way opened the scoring with a goal just three minutes into the first period, with Kyle Maloney putting the Wolves up by 2 at the five minute mark. Strong goaltending by Nathaniel Miloje kept the Stratford team off the scoreboard, along with strong defensive effort.
Stratford got on the board in the second period with 2 goals, but the Ice Wolves answered with goals by Way and Easton Schnarr to give keep the score 4-2 going into the third period.
Unfortunately the Stratford team seemed to have saved their offense for the last period, as they scored 6 goals in the final frame as the Wolves seemed to run out of steam. The end result was an 8-5 loss for the Ice Wolves in a tough game.
The coaches used this exhibition game to move some players into different positions. A hard effort was put forth by the left wing trio of Easton Schnarr, Christopher Brown and Jonathan Dinner, who interchanged between left and right wing, resulting in some fantastic scoring chances.
A strong defensive game was had by Evan Howe and Kaden Washkurak, breaking up many on-coming rushes into the Wolves end.
Way and Maloney led the scoring for the Wolves, each netting 2 goals and an assist. Schnarr also added a goal. Ryan Hanson, Brown, Hunter Baird and Connor Rowell all contributed with an assist each.
Good luck to the Ice Wolves in their up-coming tournament in Barrie.