Warriors blaze past Stars and spin past Cyclones in statement sweep

By: Michael Willoughby

The Stratford Hunter Steel Warriors made another statement this weekend, extending their winning streak to seven with victories over St. Thomas at the William Allman Memorial Arena on Oct. 16 and Listowel on Oct. 17.

Two Warriors players reached their 100th-game milestone on Oct. 9 against the Sarnia Legionnaires, as announced on social media.

Francesco Sanita and Drew Hodge commented on playing their 100th game, reflected on their careers in the Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL) to date, and shared their thoughts on the forthcoming weekend games.

“It feels pretty good. I think I already hit 100 when we played Sarnia, but yeah, it's pretty cool. It feels like just yesterday was my first game,” Sanita said. “Just keep the wins coming. We're on a run, a little bit of a hot streak right now, and we're just looking to keep that going.”

“Yeah, it's a good milestone to hit, especially with one group. It's been a fun 100 games,” Hodge said. “These are two teams that are ahead of us in the standings right now, so we just need to come out with 100 per cent effort and just stick to our game, and hopefully we can come in with two wins.”

McQuen Haylock has been on a scoring tear, emerging as a key offensive contributor during the Warriors’ winning streak. After being held off the scoresheet in the first three games of the season, the Wolverine Lake, Mich. native has scored in four of the last five games.

Playing alongside newcomers Ethan Bridges and Declan McCotter, Haylock says he enjoys taking on a veteran role.

“I think it's been awesome. It's really fun to play with two young guys. It's fun to teach them stuff. They obviously are learning new things, and it's awesome to see them grow. You know, they're a bunch of young guys. It's awesome to play with them and watch them grow as humans and players. It's been awesome,” Haylock said.

Winners of five straight, the Warriors faced the St. Thomas Stars on Oct. 16.

The Stars opened the scoring at 8:50 in the first period, but Coen Galbraith tied it for the Warriors at 4:48, assisted by Max Wildfong and Colin Slattery. Galbraith scored his second goal of the game and third of the season at 6:53 of the second period, with assists from Grady Murphy and Gibson Grendel. Haylock followed at 8:57, scoring his seventh of the season with assists from Aaron Green and Bridges.

The Warriors put the game out of reach early in the third period when Haylock scored his second of the night, assisted by Bridges for his second assist of the contest. Stratford netminder Noah Bender improved to 4-0 with a 23-save performance.

Stratford welcomed cross-region rivals the Listowel Cyclones for a rare Saturday night game on Oct. 17. This game also marked the 100th career GOHL game for team co-captain Colin Slattery, the third different member of the Warriors' roster to eclipse the milestone in under ten days.

The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Sanita and Haylock. Galbraith notched his third goal of the weekend on the powerplay from Jaxon Broda and Murphy at 1:15 of the second period, giving the Warriors a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Listowel got on the board on a power play at 7:46 in the middle frame to cut the Stratford lead to 3-1. While on their second power play of the period, the Cyclones made a costly miscue behind their own net as three Cyclones players made an ill-advised turnover, leaving Dominic Marshall to score in an empty net for his second goal of the season with 5:53 left to extend the lead back to three.

Green’s unassisted goal late in the period put the game well in hand for the home side. Murphy added one more for insurance in the third period as the Warriors stormed past the Cyclones 6-1. Netminder Gage Hurst stopped 27 of 28 shots on goal for his third straight win.

After the game, Warriors head coach Dave Williams discussed the team’s weekend performance, attributing its current seven-game winning streak to more consistent play than earlier in the season and a continued commitment to the team philosophy.

“I think we've just gotten a little bit more consistent than we were earlier in the season. You know, I still liked a lot of the stuff we were doing earlier, but I think we're just doing it more often and doing it better. So I thought it was a good weekend for us, two tough teams to play and no back-to-back nights, and really proud of how we were able to play this weekend,” Williams said.

“I think we're probably scoring a little bit more. We're getting to the inside ice and generating better scoring opportunities, and I think off the other side of the puck, I think we're defending better. I think we're getting into better spots. I think we're working harder when we turn pucks over to get above pucks and make teams have to come through more bodies, so I just think in general we're just doing things a little more consistently than we were doing earlier in the year. You know, we haven't changed the way we played.”

For Murphy and Galbraith, the reason the team is clicking is that they are playing their system effectively. The two also shared their thoughts on Slattery reaching the century mark.

“It's been very good. We've been playing real hard, just being simple. After the first three games, I think we started getting a little more confidence with our play and started connecting with the teammates and had more bonding and stuff, which helped out,” Murphy said.

“He's a great friend. He's a great teammate and especially a great leader. Yes, I've played with him growing up my whole life, and it's been a good journey.”

“Yeah, I know we're doing everything right these past eight games. Getting pucks deep, doing the small things, little things. You know, back checking hard. We're just doing everything right, and we're getting rewarded. We got a lot of team bonding. I feel like we have good chemistry now. You know, we know where each other are on the ice, and it's been working out for us so far.” Galbraith said.

“Great guy. He's a leader out there. He's one of our captains, so it's good to see him get this milestone here.”

Slattery says he feels grateful for his career with the Warriors and for reaching the milestone in his hometown.

“Yeah, you know it's pretty crazy how it's only 100 games. It feels like it was yesterday. I was just coming in as a 17-year-old kid, so it's pretty cool to play 100 games, especially all here in Stratford,” Slattery said.

On Oct. 19, Hurst was announced as the GOHL Western Conference Player of the Week. In his two starts, Hurst went 2-0 with a .931 save percentage and a 2.00 goals-against average.

With two straight wins, the Warriors sit fifth in the GOHL Western Conference and aim to extend their streak with two games this weekend. They host the Strathroy Rockets on Oct. 23, then travel to Elmira to face the Sugar Kings in an evening matchup on Oct. 25.