The eight day holiday break had decidedly different results for the St. Michael’s Buzzers and the Bowmanville Eagles as both teams got back in action on Monday night at the Newmarket Showcase. The Buzzers – winners of four straight games heading into the layoff – looked sluggish in their return to game action, never finding a groove in their first and only meeting of the season with the Eagles. Bowmanville, on the other hand, while not explosive offensively, was efficient defensively, limiting the Buzzers’ quality scoring chances and making life easy for their goaltender Jackson Teichroeb, who turned aside twenty eight shots for his second shutout of the season.
Buzzers’ Head Coach Mike DePellegrin credited the Eagles’ defensive system for thwarting the majority of the Buzzers’ attempts to generate some offense but felt that his team simply did not show enough urgency and competitiveness at both ends of the rink the way they did in their previous game – a 3-2 OT win in come-from-behind fashion against the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.
“We were flat; we expected to be flat because we were off for five days which is not out of the ordinary at Christmas time,” said DePellegrin. “We had two practices during the break which were okay but rusty and that’s to be expected but this was a big night for our guys and we didn’t come out of the gate at all. To Bowmanville’s credit though, they’re a big, physical team and they took away the middle of the ice very well, they protected their own end very well and they kept shots to the outside. We had a lot of trouble penetrating the middle of the ice tonight and down low in our end, we just had zero urgency.”
The first period featured few scoring chances on either side with the shots 7-2 favouring the Eagles after twenty minutes as both teams looked somewhat tentative after the long break from game action. The Eagles though simplified their style in the second period, concentrating on establishing a forecheck and net presence in front of Buzzers’ netminder Joe D’Elia – making his return to the line up after missing three weeks with an injury.
Brett Gilmour put the Eagles up 1-0 at the 5:28 mark with a power play goal. Just less than five minutes later, Chris Moore grew the lead to a pair of goals at the 10:02 mark followed quickly ten seconds later by Gilmour’s second goal of the game.
St. Michael’s was missing Lucas Lessio – currently competing for Team Ontario at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge - from its line up against the Eagles, forcing the power play unit to be reorganized and eliminating a bit of their depth scoring from the second line. The power play was never a threat for the Buzzers as they went scoreless in ten opportunities.
DePellegrin explained though that the absence of the competitiveness necessary from those in the line up had more to do with the poor result than Lessio’s absence.
“We miss Lucas one hundred per cent but Lucas is one man and as a twenty person unit, with Lucas in the line up or not, you have to win as a team and lose as a team,” said DePellegrin. “Sure, we will welcome Lucas back with open arms when he comes back next week but for now, we have to learn to win as a team with the guys we have in the line up.”
Early in the third period, the Eagles grew their lead to 4-0 when Mitchell Heard scored at the 6:19 mark. Toward the end of the frame, the Buzzers finally started to get their legs back and challenge Teichroeb but were unable to break the shutout bid. The best chance came late in the period when Mike Hawkrigg walked in alone on a breakaway but hit the goal post as he tried to beat Teichroeb to the low blocker side.
St. Michael’s will have another lengthy period of time in between games, not getting back in action until Saturday night against the Cobourg Cougars. Learning to win without key players in the line up as Head Coach DePellegrin mentioned will need to be at the forefront against the Cougars as St. Michael’s will not only still be missing Lessio but also top players Dan Ciampini and Jesse Beamish who will be in Pembroke, Ontario at the second annual “Battle of Ontario” against the Central Junior Hockey League.
“We don’t tell the guys that Cobourg’s lower in the standings,” said DePellegrin. “We have to play our game and our game is that we have to work hard for three periods and play defensively responsible in our own end. We have to. That’s the makeup of this team, that’s what will make us successful in this final stretch and through the playoffs as well.”
