There is a saying I repeat often and truly believe. It says,
“you are never as bad as they say when you lose and never as good as they say when
you win”.
These Waterloo Wolves players were questioned when they went
through January in league play winless in 5 games with a total of 4 goals
scored. The only silver lining being the last two games in January being ties,
and even that, produced only a lone goal for the most optimistic to reach
towards.
Were the Wolves THAT bad and did they deserve to sit in the
basement of the standings?
Fast forward a weekend into February and the same Wolves
team had 18 goals scored with 3 straight wins and an undefeated streak of 5
games. The team now sits in third place with the league’s second-best goals for
percentage and are within striking distance of the top seeds.
Are the Wolves good enough to win the league?
Where others place them and what others believe is their
reality. What the team believes and what their coaches believe contradicts the
modesty in the above quote. When the Waterloo Wolves play their game and put in
the effort required, they are the best team in Alliance. The more that statement
is questioned and the more it is debated the harder these players seem to play.
When the team was slumping, we were
talking about just finding our groove and peaking at the right time. This is
the right time, and this is the time to push harder and fine tune how we execute
the game plan.
Here we are ready to make a run after a pair of ties, a 5 to
2 win over the Cambridge Hawks, a 7 to 3 win over the Brantford 99ers and a 6
to 1 win over the rival Kitchener Jr Rangers.
Against the Hawks, Cole Hunsberger scored from Cole
Ledgister and Jake Pattersson. Ben Morton scored from Jack Thompson and Ethan Wasylyshyn.
Matthew Ball scored an unassisted goal. Evan Wallace scored a pair of goals
with his first from Ledgister and his second from Hunsberger.
Against the 99ers, Hunsberger once again got things started
scoring on the powerplay from Wallace and Ball. Morton scored off a nice redefection
of a Jordan Abbott shot. Wallace scored from Thompson and Abbott. Jack Mayne
scored from Hunter McMurdo and Griffin Beddis. Morton scored from Ball.
Hunsberger scored from Ledgister and Wallace. Ledgister scored shorthanded on a
nifty play to cap the scoring.
Against the pesky Rangers, of course Hunsberger scored to
open the game from Wallace and Ledgister. Morton scored from Ball. Hunsberger
scored again from Wallace and Jackson McNichol. Legister scored from
Hunsberger. McMurdo banged home a goal after Declan Uniac undressed the Rangers
with Jack Smith picking up an assist. Wallace scored from Hunsberger and
Ledgister.
The Wolves saw excellent goaltending from both Drew Cribbin
and Sam Miller over the weekend which always helps a team get on track. Enough
can’t be said of both players in how they have helped the team and stayed
positive.
The Wolves only have six more games until the playoffs start
so the players will need to keep the train rolling and pay attention to detail
to make sure they are ready to go. The one thing that is certain in this league
is that any team can win against anyone and the team that works the hardest is
typically the team that wins.
Pretty simple really, work hard and win.
Go Wolves!