The long-awaited tilt with the feisty Woodstock Jr Navy Vets
finally came and the Waterloo Wolves fought tooth and nail to earn a 2 to 1 win
with yet another short bench.
Continuously, we mention the stellar play of the team’s
goaltenders. Last night, however, was next level for Jake Howard. In a tight scoring game with his team up only
a goal and the Navy Vets goalie pulled, Howard looked so calm we thought he
might not have a pulse. His calmness is a huge strength but so is his sound
positioning that allows him to stay calm. Howard was square and cut all the
angles. He trusted his technique and training had pucks hit him and never overplayed
any chances which prevented any more chances. It was an impressive goaltending
clinic that left his coaches speechless. As a wise lady once said, “Winners
always want the ball when the game is on the line”. Howard took the ball and
ran with it.
Another player the coaches can’t stop talking about for good
reason is Carter Talboom. You want to see work ethics and a player who does all
that is asked, look no further. The fact he scored the game winning goal is
only icing on the cake. Talboom has backchecked like an animal and with
purpose. He forechecks every shift, finishes his checks and has the best
attitude with his teammates and coaches.
Talboom’s game winner was set up on the power play by Logan
Landry and Reed Rozema. The Wolves’ opening goal was by Dell Wang who went in
unassisted and dangled around three Navy Vets before undressing the goalie.
Once again, the Wolves had several players missing with Ben
Schofield, Ben Sawyer, Cam Murray and Jackson Hunter all out with injury and
Allan Wang suffering from a virus was also missing.
The Wolves were happy to see Christopher Ding return and
solidify the defense with Logan Murtha, Owen Ottens and Cole Gardiner. Hiatt
Rich and Rozema were double shifted at center and ran through pairs of Grayson
Seiling with Wang, Antonio Parisi with Landry and Casey Ross with Talboom.
There was a lot of energy from the lines.
It was a big two points for the Wolves, and the win leap
frogged the team into the second seed. The Wolves have played more games than a
couple teams fighting for that spot and will need to continue earning points to
make it difficult for teams to unseed them.
Next up the Wolves will host the Stratford Warriors and
Cambridge Hawks in a pair of home games on the weekend. With luck the players
will get some help from the injured reserve.
Go Wolves!