Stayner Siskins laid a big fat egg last Friday losing 8-7 to Alliston Hornets in an away game.
The local Junior C hockey team held a 7-3 lead with just under seven minutes to go in the second period when team captain Kyle Lafreniere connected for his third goal of the game. The egg was laid after that.
Quips Siskins general manager Richard Gauthier, “All the wheels came off the bus (in the third period and overtime period), not just one of them.”
Gauthier, who is also handling the coaching duties while head coach Dave Steele serves his 12-game suspension says, “We deserved a better fate. We deserved to win that hockey game.”
He added that Stayner got some bad breaks, which was part of the reason Alliston was able to sneak back into the game. A good example is when the tying goal by Jack Birkett, his third of the game, went off a Stayner defender’s skate with 3:35 remaining.
The Siskins played extremely well in the first 40 minutes. The team forchecked and backchecked. In the final 20 minutes, “We played panic hockey,” says Gauthier.
The overtime goal was scored after Stayner just missed an opportunity.
The players didn’t put an effort on the backcheck and there it was, Alliston’s third consecutive victory over the Siskins.
The team missed a glorious opportunity to close the gap with the first-place Hornets, considering Penetang tied Alliston 4-4 Sunday. Stayner is firmly in second place with its only blemishes occurring against the Hornets.
Lafreniere led the club with four points, Ben Hughes had three from a goal and two assists. Stayner’s other goals were notched by Griffin Pearce, Nolan King and Mark Dupont.
The previous night, Stayner dominated Penetang winning 9-0. Hughes had a big night scoring a goal assisting on three. He now leads the league in scoring by 12 points over Midland’s Francesco Corona. Hughes has 43 points form 17 goals and 26 assists. Other Stayner scorers were J.D. Falconer, 2, Lafreniere, Jackson Clarke, Zach Trott, Kevin Boyd and Jordan Taylor.
Stayner plays in Midland Nov. 11 against the Flyers, travel to Schomberg Saturday for a night game against the Cougars and are home to Orillia Terriers Thursday.
Clearview Township’s most acclaimed hockey player, Steve Walker, who now works as an assistant coach with Adler Mannheim in the German Hockey League, was home a few weeks ago. The former Stayner assistant coach was able to catch the Siskins victory over the Penetang Kings Thursday, Nov. 2.
In an email exchange, Walker commented about the local club, “I went to the Siskins game yesterday and it looks like they have a strong team, one that hopefully can challenge Alliston for a title. It’s great to see local players like Taylor and Trott having a great season and being a big part of the success of the team.”
His own Adler Mannheim team is sitting currently in fourth place in the 14-team league. He expects the club to challenge for the title.
Rumours this summer drifted about that Walker was getting his NHL coaching credentials. He quashed those rumours and says he attended a Roger Neilsons coaching clinic and a NHL coaching conference to learn more about coaching.
“Coaching is a lot like playing, it’s tough to predict where your career path might go,” he says. “I try to learn as much as I can each day, things that I can take once I become a head coach. I want to prepare myself so that once I get an opportunity I’m ready for it. It might be the only chance you get. Coaches are graded on wins and losses and no matter if your team is devastated by injuries or bad luck you have to find a way to win, so preparing for that there’s lots to learn.
I would love to come back to Canada and coach at some point but like I said, it’s tough to know where your career path will lead. I’m just enjoying my job and I’m excited every day to go to work.”
Finally about Siskins head coach Dave Steele, he was originally sentenced to an eight-game suspension, which was later increased to 15.
After an appeal, the final suspension concluded at 12 games for the derogatory comments he made to an official.
He should be back behind the bench for the Schomberg game.