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April 24, 2008 12:00 AM
Canes' rout of Dryden guarantees playoff spot
By: John Cudmore, Staff Writer
A Friday night off is on the line. Along with a decided edge the rest of the way.
That’s what will be at stake when the Oakville Blades and Newmarket Hurricanes square off Thursday night in a clash of unbeaten teams to complete the round-robin portion of the Dudley Hewitt Cup.
That decided edge is a direct berth into Saturday night’s final of the four-team tournament which will determine the central Canada representative for the Royal Bank Cup next month in Cornwall.
The host Hurricanes took care of their part of the bargain Wednesday night, rolling to a 7-1 rout of the Dryden Ice Dogs in a game which got seriously out of hand, competitively speaking, midway through the second period.
The showdown between the OPJHL teams - the Blades won the league playoff title - is what most observers have quietly anticipated all week.
“We know we have to prove a lot of people wrong because of our early playoff exit,” said Hurricanes’ forward Jeff Henderson, who opened the Newmarket scoring late in the first period to nullify an earlier Ice Dogs’ marker by defenceman Drew Heinen. “We know we’re the underdogs and have to prove ourselves. We want to show Oakville we’re not a pushover team like people think.
“(Tonight) tested our character as a team in a way. We needed a big game to know what we are capable of but also we stayed away from bad habits.”
It was a night in which the Hurricanes figured out their opponent in rather short order and pounced quickly for the kill. It was also another step forward for a team which had played just five playoff games, fewest among the participants coming into the tournament. For that reason, head coach Brian Perrin was pleased to see a well-rounded effort.
“I just want to see us play well with and without the puck,” Perrin said. “Our transition game was as good tonight as it has been all season.
“The third period was a challenge for us to play as a team. It was a chance to build character and play with discipline.”
The chance to skip game duty Friday is monumental. The loser must face the winner of Thursday afternoon’s Dryden-Sudbury Wolves contest in a sudden-death semifinal. Perrin assured his side will be playing for the day off to avoid five games in as many days.
“When you have momentum like this, you have to do whatever you can to keep it,” he said. “I’m sure Oakville is thinking the same thing.”
For the second straight game, the Hurricanes spotted the opposition a 1-0 lead before figuring things out and unleashing the offensive weapons.
Heinen’s point shot caromed in off the foot of a Newmarket defender to give Dryden its only goal at 6:43 of the first period. Henderson tapped in an Adam Martinez setup from the edge of the crease at 17:48 on a power play and Brian Soso converted from about four feet out on a Josh McQuade setup 45 seconds later.
Despite being outshot in the second period by an 11-9 margin, and 27-26 overall, the Hurricanes struck for five unanswered goals during the middle 20 minutes.
Martinez got the ball rolling in the fourth minute of the period when he banged in his own rebound. Goals by captain Scott Voisin and Josh Diamond chased starting Dryden netminder Graeme Harrington, and Justin Lacey and Chris Leveille greeted his replacement Edward Albert with goals on the first two shots he faced.
“We gave up a lot of slot opportunities,” Ice Dogs’ head coach Randy Lulashnyk said. “In a tournament like this, you can’t take anything for granted and we didn’t take care of our house.
“We had some things that worked. When you lose a period 2-1 and tie the other, it’s the five-goal period that kills you.”
The loss leaves the Ice Dogs, first-place finishers and playoff winners of the Superior International Junior Hockey League, in a must-win situation Thursday afternoon when they face the Northern Ontario champions Sudbury Wolves in a clash of winless teams to decide the final semifinal berth.
“Whether we won tonight, we still had to win tomorrow,” Lulashnyk said. “For some reason, we were looking to win the fourth game tonight and not the second game.”
In the afternoon game, the Blades claimed a 5-3 victory over Sudbury as Nick McParland capped his second straight hat trick in the tournament with an empty-net goal.