Warriors overcame Mother Nature and pounced on Pelham Panthers on the road

The weather outside this past weekend was frightful, but the results for the Stratford Hunter Steel Warriors remained delightful as they defeated the Pelham Panthers 2-1 at the Meridian Community Complex in Pelham on Nov. 30.

Stratford entered the week in fifth place in the Western Conference, where they sit one point behind the St. Marys Lincolns for third, but two points ahead of seventh-place St. Thomas Stars and only a point ahead of the Waterloo Siskins.

In preparation for the week, Noah Bender and Evan Arnold gave their take on how to keep focused on maintaining the six-game winning streak.

“It's just all sticking together, having some good practices this week. Work on what we need to work on, and then just going into each game not really worrying about the last game or the next game or anything, just worrying about the game that's at hand,” Bender said.

“We're going to come out hard, same as every game, and just play our style,” Arnold said.

A late-week, multi-day snow squall covered Stratford and the surrounding regions, forcing the Nov. 28 home game against the Siskins to be cancelled. Still, it didn't deter the Warriors, who held an impromptu practice at the Allman Arena to fill the time.

Head coach Dave Williams explains that the team is fortunate to still have the ice time on Friday, maintaining some semblance of normalcy and not jeopardizing their system.

“We're fortunate we still have the ice Friday so guys can still get on the ice Friday night, so it kind of keeps us in a bit of a routine,” Williams said.

“We had practice yesterday morning, so for us, it really wasn't a big change of routine, because we're still able to get our skates on and get our touches in. So, we're fortunate that way."

The Warriors travelled from the blistering, snow-packed Stratford to the wet and windy Pelham on Nov. 30 for a matchup with the Panthers, one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

Max Wildfong scored his 10th of the season from Colin Slattery and McQuen HayLock to open the scoring for the Warriors at the 5:40 mark of the first period. Evan Arnold extended the Stratford lead early in the second period with his fifth of the season from Slattery and Drew Hodge at 6:08.

Despite a quality start to the game, the Warriors reverted to their disciplinary issues midway through the middle frame, going down to five-on-three after Aaron Green and Haden Frayne went to the penalty box in a span of 44 seconds. Pelham then took advantage to get on the board with 7:48 remaining in the period.

In what was a defensive standstill third period, the Warriors overcame a late-period miscue from Bender and an offensive push by the Panthers to escape with the 2-1 win. Bender notched his ninth win of the season with his 31-save performance in net.

Williams says the team bounced back from a tough second period to come out with the win.

“I really liked how we played the first half of the game. But I thought when we took those penalties, we lost some momentum, and I felt like (Pelham) tilted the ice and started to take the bite to us in the second half of that second period,” Williams said.

“It took us almost ten minutes into the third period to find our way again and be a little bit of an offensive threat, but obviously, they got a good hockey team over there. They played with lots of pace and, you know, maybe one of the more physical games we've had to play this year as well.”

Williams also credited Bender for providing saves in critical spots in the game.

“I thought he played exceptionally well. He was a big part of the win today for us. He made some big saves that were game-changing,” Williams said.

Slattery and Wildfong say the team's performance could've been more consistent, and they felt fortunate to get the win.

“It wasn't obviously our greatest performance on the road, but we got the win," Slattery said.

“I'd say we had a good first period, and then kind of died down from there,” Wildfong said. “Still got the win. We're just looking to perform way better on Wednesday.”

The win was the seventh straight for the Warriors, the longest since Jan. 22-Feb. 26, 2025, when they won nine straight games. Next home game for the Warriors is the Toy donation and non-perishable food drive game on Dec. 5 against the Sarnia Legionnaires at the Allman Arena.

On Dec. 6, the Warriors host their annual "Skate with The Warriors" at the Allman Arena from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, and take part in the Stratford Santa’s Parade of Lights from 3-7 p.m. on Dec. 7.