MacQueen-Spence makes history as Lincs hit 16 straight wins

Chase MacQueen-Spence carries the puck up ice during the St. Marys Lincolns’ 3-0 win over the Waterloo Siskins on Feb. 1. MacQueen-Spence scored his 78th career goal against the Siskins, just days after recording his 107th career assist and 184th career point, all of which are new Lincolns GOHL records.

By Spencer Seymour

After a stretch of three games in four days, there is a new greatest modern era St. Marys Lincoln, with Chase MacQueen-Spence setting new team Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL) records for most career goals, assists and points since the formation of the league in 2007.

MacQueen-Spence registered three assists in the Lincolns’ 5-1 win over the Hamilton Kilty B’s on Jan. 29, hitting new Lincolns’ franchise GOHL records of 107 career assists and 184 career points. Then, in the Lincolns’ 3-0 win against the Waterloo Siskins on Feb. 1, MacQueen-Spence potted his 78th career goal, breaking the GOHL career goals benchmark for the Lincolns.

Sean Consitt previously held the GOHL records for career goals, assists and points with the Lincolns, tallying 77 goals, 106 assists and 183 points in 178 games with the Lincolns between 2009 and 2013.

The Lincolns’ captain admitted the record-setting goal against Waterloo lifted a heavy weight off his back.

“It feels amazing,” said MacQueen-Spence. “It’s a big relief coming off my shoulders. I’ve been holding onto it the past few games, just trying to get it. I wanted to do it at home, but I’ll take it away. When I first came here, I wasn’t expecting to be here for all four years. I had other goals in mind, but I am extremely happy that I did stick it out for the first couple of years, and to be here in my fourth year now, it’s been awesome, and I have zero regrets.”

MacQueen-Spence added the immediate feelings when he scored his 78th career goal, joking about the reaction by his teammates on the bench, who all remained seated when MacQueen-Spence skated by the bench after scoring.

“I felt just so much relief (when he scored against Waterloo). I didn’t really know what to do. I went to the fly-by, and all the boys were just sitting down there. All the emotions came out. It was great. I’m going to take a wild guess that it was Owen (Voortman) and Ryan (Hodkinson) who were planning that one for a couple games. I’ve heard them whispering about it, so I didn’t know what they were planning, but I knew it was something.”

MacQueen-Spence’s assists and points records came against the Kilty B’s, who the Lincolns defeated on Jan. 29. Voortman scored a pair of goals as part of a three-point game, which brought him to 150 career points. Head coach Jeff Bradley credited the two overage forwards, not just for their milestones, but for getting back to the top of their game.

“Chase and Owen were outstanding. It was nice to see those guys get back to where they need to be. Owen has the ability to be a pretty overpowering presence for his opponents when he’s skating and being physical, and I thought that’s what he did Thursday night, and it got him engaged, and when he does that, he can be one of the premier players in the league.

“I called Chase after the game Thursday night and just told him how important what he did was,” Bradley continued. “I know points aren’t everything, and he’s the first one to say it. What he wants to do is win. But when you’re done junior hockey, 99.9 per cent of players are left with nothing except memories and friendships. But what Chase has done for this organization, his name will be remembered forever, and he should be incredibly proud of that.”

One of the other brightest spots for the Lincolns against the Kilty B’s was the returning Jacob Montesi, who played his first game since Dec. 12. Montesi showed no signs of rust, despite the lengthy layoff, and, according to Bradley, reminded everyone how valuable he is.

“I thought Jacob came back and gave a reminder of how good and how important he is to our team. I turned to Mike (Herman) midway through the first period and just said, ‘Man, I forgot how good this kid is.’ So, it was really nice to have him back. I think the experience he has and understanding what to expect helps in being able to step back in and not miss a beat.”

Ryan Hodkinson, Blake Elzinga and Callum McAuley also scored for St. Marys, while Vaughn Barr made 35 saves in his winning effort in goal.

Bradley noted the Lincs weathered a rough-and-tumble opening period before taking control in the final 40 minutes.

“I thought they took it to us physically a little bit in the first, but it was still a good road period for us, and then I thought in the second and third, we dominated quite a bit. We circled a couple of things we wanted to work on Thursday and a couple of things we wanted to work on Friday. Against Hamilton, specifically, there were two things, one being our faceoff execution. We’re not winning a ton of faceoffs right now, but we have a plan to get pucks back when we lose draws, and we haven’t been executing it. And then our puck management felt a little bit sloppy as of late. Some of that has to do with the opponents we’re playing, but we can control it a little bit and we did a better job of that against Hamilton.”

Lincs dominate Nationals in Booth-Housego’s return to the PRC

Just 24 hours later, Colby Booth-Housego made 22 stops in the Lincolns crease, his first home game since being reacquired by the Lincolns at the trade deadline, as Voortman scored two goals for the second straight game on Jan. 30 in the Lincs’ 4-1 win over the London Nationals.

The Lincolns outshot London 43-23, in large part thanks to a second period that was wholly one sided as St. Marys outshot the Nationals 20-4 in the middle frame.

According to Bradley, the team’s physicality, breakouts and forechecking were the pillars of the Lincolns’ strong showing.

“I thought we handled them physically,” Bradley said. “I thought the guys executed the game plan. In every aspect of the game, I thought we deserved to win, so I was really happy with that effort. I thought we got in on the forecheck a lot easier. Our F-1 and F-2 were getting up and putting pressure on their defenders and not giving them any options but to go up the wall, and then that leads to our defencemen getting down the wall and forcing the puck to stay in.”

Along with Voortman, Ethan Weir and Lincoln Moore found the back of the net, with Moore’s goal giving the Garden River native 100 career GOHL points, rounding out a trio of milestones along with Voortman’s 150 career points and MacQueen-Spence’s records. Bradley was thrilled to see the three 20-year-old forwards celebrated for their career benchmarks.

“It’s great to see. They all deserve the recognition they’re getting. They really do. The loyalty they have to this program is inspiring. Chase (MacQueen-Spence) is driving past multiple teams to play here. Owen (Voortman) is from Thunder Bay, and he’s choosing to come play here. And Lincoln (Moore), same thing. he’s a guy who could be playing on any junior hockey team in Canada, and he’s choosing to play here. I think we’re very honoured that those three guys choose to play here.”

Bradley also detailed the focus the team had on improving the consistency with which they displayed their physicality.

“We wanted to continue what we talked about Thursday night, but then the main thing that we wanted to add to that was being physically dominant. That’s something that we feel that it’s taken us a period or so to get back into that form. We’re capable of doing it to a team in the first period and putting them on their heels right away, and we feel that’s a massive advantage for us leading into periods two and three, and I thought we did that as well.”

After a few games of some inconsistent play heading into their three games in four days against Hamilton, London and Waterloo, the Lincolns juggled many of their line combinations. These changes included Devun Colebrook centring a line with Voortman and MacQueen-Spence on his wins, as well as Jack Clarke moving from the wing back to the middle of the ice, both of whom the bench boss was pleased with in the games against Hamilton and London.

“Everybody wants to play with Devun,” said Bradley. “He’s physical, he competes, he works hard. Owen (Voortman) and Chase (MacQueen-Spence) are the fortunate ones right now, but literally everybody on our team wants to play with Devun. And Jack (Clarke) seems like he’s getting stronger. He’s very physical and I think he looked good in the middle, so we might try to keep him there a little bit.”

Lincs stay on roll in convincing shutout of Siskins

Unfortunately for the Lincolns, though they went on to continue their winning streak, their trip to Waterloo on Feb. 1 wasn’t all good news as Colebrook left the game less than a minute in with a leg injury after a knee-on-knee collision with Siskins’ forward Sutton Maltby.

With Oliver Lacko already not in the lineup due to an injury, this meant the Lincs were down to 10 forwards for the rest of the game. That level of depletion amongst the forwards, coupled with the busy four-day schedule, made the stellar performance more impressive to the bench boss.

“I thought, given the circumstances, it was an A-plus,” Bradley said. “It’s our third game in four days. We ended up playing the whole game minus one shift with 10 forwards. We were battling through a little bit of dirty play. I think our guys deserve a lot of credit. That’s the second time that we’ve shut Waterloo out this season, and I think that’s something to be incredibly proud of. I think the guys should be really proud of the effort last night.”

While the entire team delivered a strong performance against the Siskins, Bradley praised Clarke for filling in for some of the elements that was lost with Colebrook’s exit.

“I think Devun (Colebrook) is a guy on his own in terms of what he brings, but I think a guy like Jack (Clarke), he brings a lot of similar elements, so it’s all the more important that he does that stuff when we’re missing someone like Devun. Jack had a really good weekend for us, and he had some time off, so I think it was just a matter of him getting his footing underneath him.”

Declan Ready opened the scoring for the Lincolns with the only goal of the first period. In the second, MacQueen-Spence made history with his 78th career goal, followed almost exactly 11 minutes later by a goal by Voortman to make it three straight games with a goal for the Thunder Bay native.

The Lincolns did much better on Feb. 1, generating more offensive opportunities in the Siskins’ zone than in their first trip to Waterloo earlier this season – a 2-0 win for Waterloo. Bradley attributed the team’s play low in the offensive zone to the Lincolns’ improved offensive zone time.

“We talked after the first period about how it was clear that Waterloo didn’t really have an answer for us when we operated below the goal line,” said Bradley. “So, we were trying to work them down low, and then they would collapse even more, and the points would be wide open, and I think the big ice helps with that.”

Booth-Housego put up his first shutout of the season with the Lincolns, making 27 saves in the St. Marys crease.

“Colby (Booth-Housego) had a really good game,” Bradley said. “He’s been trying to get used to being back here, and I think (Feb. 1) was really a perfect game for him. Especially in his hometown, to be able to do something like that, it’s great for him and great for us. Anytime a goaltender can get a shutout, it’s a nice little confidence booster, so we’re happy for him.”