Lincs kick off season with feisty win in West Final rematch
By Spencer Seymour
The St. Marys Lincolns picked up right where they left off last season with a 5-3 victory over the Stratford Warriors in a fiery home opener between the Perth County rivals.
Head coach Jeff Bradley was thrilled with the team’s progression after their second preseason meeting against the Warriors in which Stratford punished the Lincolns with their speedy transition game.
“In our preseason game in Stratford, even though it was an exhibition game, I thought it was quite telling of what the challenges would be going into the season opener,” said Bradley. “We had a really good video session on Wednesday night and talked about how, in that preseason game in Stratford, we got really exposed and gave up a lot of odd-man rushes. That was the theme for our practice and video work Wednesday, and that was a big part of our meeting prior to the game, and I thought that was really the best part of our game.”
While the Warriors still managed to create some chances in transition, Bradley detailed an “amazing transformation” between the Lincolns’ second preseason game against the Warriors and their home opener.
“Obviously, you’re going to give up odd-man rushes, especially against a team like Stratford that is so good in transition,” Bradley said. “I think we gave up 12 or 13 in the preseason game in Stratford, and then only gave up four in the home opener. So, if we’re able to take away the odd-man rushes like that, I think you’re cutting off a leg there, and it gave us a really good opportunity to win that hockey game.”
The bench boss added, while the experience of the group means there won’t be a huge learning curve, there was still some familiarity to be developed amongst the returning and incoming players, a process that took a good step forward.
After the excitement of a pregame unveiling of the Lincolns’ Western Conference Championship banner, the Warriors quieted the crowd at the Pyramid Recreation Centre when Colin Slattery tipped the puck past goaltender Brogan Colquhoun less than two minutes into the game to put the Warriors ahead 1-0.
The next four minutes and 39 seconds went down as the only stretch of the contest during which the Warriors led, with Ryan Hodkinson scoring to tie the game at one apiece before Blake Elzinga put St. Marys ahead 2-1, both of which came on five-on-three powerplays.
Frequent penalties were a story throughout the game, with a five-on-three man advantage for Stratford in the second period resulting in a goal by Drew Hodge. In total, the two teams combined to have 14 powerplays during the game.
Elzinga added his second goal of the game just a minute and 51 seconds into the middle frame, and just 27 seconds later, Owen Bruining potted his first Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL) goal.
Bradley called Bruining arguably the team’s biggest standout performer in his regular-season GOHL debut.
“I thought Owen (Bruining) was one of our best players, if not our best player,” Bradley said. “I think his style of play could adapt to any league. He could play any level of junior hockey. He could play major junior if we wanted to, all because his style of play translates very well. He’s physical, he’s fast, he shoots well, passes well and he is incredibly intelligent. He’s really a full package for us.”
Defensively, Ronen MacFarlane delivered a masterful performance, displaying shades of Jacob Montesi and Owen Kalp with a strong, physical defensive style on the back end coupled with smart, simple and effective puck movement.
“For anybody coming into a new league, fresh off an injury like Ronen (MacFarlane) was, I think it’s fair to expect that it’s going to take a little time to get comfortable again,” said Bradley. “But it took him not long at all. He was physical. He moves the puck very well, very hard, very flat. He’s a very, very good player. We’re very happy with the way Ronen played.”
Bradley also praised Colquhoun’s steady play between the pipes, as well as the excellent two-way play of Oliver Lacko, as being key factors in ultimately coming away with their first win of the season.
“I thought Oliver (Lacko) was fantastic. It’s nice to have him back. He was just very good all over the ice. I thought Brogan (Colquhoun) played really well. Considering he hadn’t played in a long time and only had one-and-a-half exhibition games, I thought he got comfortable pretty quickly and made some really big saves, especially in the third period to make sure we won that game.”
Along with Hodge’s powerplay marker, Grady Murphy also scored in the second for the Warriors to cut the lead to one, but Colquhoun and the Lincolns managed to fend off the Warriors, with Bruining scoring an empty netter late in the third to seal the victory.
The one lacklustre element of the Lincolns’ otherwise strong start to the season was an excess of turnovers, which, while not uncommon for teams early in the year, is going to be one of the biggest focal points the Lincolns’ will work to improve in the coming weeks.
“It was our puck management,” Bradley said. “We’ll do video on Tuesday about it as a follow-up video on our forecheck. We did turn the puck over too much. We had around 41 turnovers, I think, in our home opener, and that’s a normal thing to see at the beginning of the season, so we’ll be watching these first 10 games and see where the trend is at with the turnovers, but there’s definitely more than we wanted, so that’s the next thing we’ll try to tackle.”
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