Schmidt returns in historic fashion as Warriors sweep past Maroons and Kings

Stratford's Jonas Schmidt watches his shot go past the Chatham netminder Blake Verberne for the winning goal in overtime at the Allman Arena on Nov.7.

The Stratford Hunter Steel Warriors were getting ready to resume the season after a weekend-long trip to Bowling Green on Halloween weekend. Head coach Dave Williams tells the Times that the team is adjusting back to form and is pleased with the players' response to their first practice session on Nov. 3.

"I thought we had a good speed here. We hadn't skated since Wednesday (Oct. 29), so that's always a concern," Williams said.

"When you go away, you kind of get all your routine and your rhythm, but to the guys’ credit, we got some of the rust off that we expected as coaches but thought the effort and the execution was excellent."

Rookies Mateo Craievich and McQuen Haylock both said they are adjusting to the Warriors very nicely and commended the positive vibes from the team and the city.

"It's great. I love the guys here and I love the community and coaching staff and everything," Craievich said.

"It's been amazing. So far, I've got awesome billets. It's awesome to be around the community that loves to play hockey and great fans that come support us every day, every Friday night," Haylock said.

"It's been really fun. So far, it's been a great team and environment. I'm having a great time."

On Nov. 7, the Warriors welcomed the reigning GOHL champion Chatham Maroons to the Allman Arena for the first time this season. Before the game, a Remembrance Day ceremony took place, which included the Last Post, the reading of “In Flanders Fields,” a two-minute moment of silence, and the playing of O Canada.

After a scoreless first period, which also featured a combined total of ten shots on goal, the Maroons broke the deadlock with a late goal, 3:48 left in the second period, to lead 1-0 heading into the third period.

The tightly contested defensive game turned into a scoring frenzy in the final period as Grady Murphy brought the Warriors back at one apiece. Chatham responded thirty seconds later to lead 2-1, but a powerplay goal from Max Wildfong and the go-ahead marker from the returning Jonas Schmidt put the home side ahead 3-2 going into the final minute.

At one point during the penalty kill in the period, the Warriors had a golden opportunity to double their lead as the Maroons' netminder, Blake Verberne, but the rookie Haylock made a last-second miscue and missed the net.

With an extra attacker on shortly after killing off the Stratford powerplay, the Maroons tied the game with 44.4 seconds in regulation following a mad scramble in front of the Warriors' netminder, Noah Bender and sent the game to overtime.

It only took 84 seconds into the extra session for the Warriors to prevail as Schmidt scored the game-winner and his 100th career point in the GOHL, and only the tenth player to join the historic milestone with the franchise since the team returned to the Warriors name in the 2016-17 season. Bender saved 25 shots to pick up his fifth win of the season for the home side. With the win, the Warriors extended their unbeaten home record at the Allman to 6-0-1-0 this season.

Postgame, Schmidt was excited to play after missing the previous six games due to an injury and playing a key role in the win.

"I was eager to get back in the lineup, travelling and watching hockey. It sucks, and can be hard at times, but it's a good opportunity to reflect on your own game, watching hockey, and kind of see what you can do out there to utilize your own skills. But obviously it was an exciting third period, and it was good to get the win," Schmidt said.

For hitting the career century point mark, the veteran forward Schmidt credited his teammates who helped him along the way.

"I mean, obviously there's a really impressive group of players ahead of me that have done this, but I got to give all the credit to my linemates and my teammates throughout my junior career in Stratford, so credit to them," Schmidt said.

Williams commended the team's effort, especially for their ability to bounce back and win the game in overtime.

"It was quiet there for the first couple of periods. I know we didn't generate a ton of shots in the first period, but I thought we came out and skated well. Lost our way, maybe a little bit in the second. They (Chatham) found some momentum," Williams said.

"They're a good team with some skilled players, and, you know, a bit of a character win, hopefully for us, battling back after getting that game tied, and then, you know, the next shift, giving up the second goal. I think the guys should feel good about their effort tonight."    

Stratford travelled to Komoka for a Saturday night matchup against the Kings on Nov. 8.

Wildfong got the Warriors on the board with a powerplay goal at the 3:01 mark of the first period. Komoka tied the game with a powerplay goal of their own midway through the period, but Dominic Marshall responded for the visitors with a late goal, his fifth of the season, to take the lead heading into the second period.

The Kings tied the game again at 3:04 of the second period, only for Lucas Minard to score his seventh of the season midway through the period, on the powerplay, to give the lead back to the Warriors. Haylock atoned for his mistake from the previous game and scored his first career GOHL goal late in the period to provide Stratford with a 4-2 lead through forty minutes.

Komoka climbed to within one with their second powerplay goal of the game with 5:07 left in the third. Despite taking multiple penalties down the stretch, the Stratford defence withstood the offensive push from Komoka and iced the game with the empty netter from Rhyse Brown with less than two minutes left. Bender notched his sixth win of the season with a 32-save performance.

This marked the first time the Warriors won on the road since the dramatic shootout win in Chatham on Oct. 12.

After the game, Williams knew the team needed to be more careful when taking the penalties at the pivotal points of the game.

"They (Komoka) are a much-improved team from last year. We had to battle to the end. We need to figure out that we can make it easy on ourselves," Williams said.

"Killing eight minutes of penalties in the third period isn't typically a very good recipe to try and win, right? I think some of our grief the last three or four games on the road has had to do a little bit with taking penalties late in the game."

On a positive note, Haylock was very pleased to score his first career goal in the GOHL and felt vindicated after what happened the previous game.

"I was pretty upset about yesterday, even though we came out of the win, I definitely left it out there and didn't put away a pretty easy goal," Haylock said. "But I decided to clear my head, and it worked out here, and I ended up in the back of the net."

The Warriors return to cross-conference play this weekend, hosting the Welland Jr. Canadians on Nov. 14 at the Allman Arena and travelling to play the Caledonia Corvairs on the road the following night, Nov. 15.