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'Unacceptable' effort in Greyhounds loss

The comments were similar to those made following a Wednesday victory but they may have taken on a little more meaning this time.

The comments were similar to those made following a Wednesday victory but they may have taken on a little more meaning this time.

“We saw a much better hockey team come in and outplay us,” said Soo Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister shortly after his team dropped a 5-2 decision to the Saginaw Spirit at the Essar Centre on Friday night.

“I’m embarrassed,” Bannister also said. “The team should be embarrassed. It’s unacceptable. I don’t care who you play, you’re not going to win anytime in this league with that kind of effort.”

Bannister would also tell reporters that even after tying the game with a shorthanded goal early in the second period.

“There was no push back from our guys at any time,” Bannister said. “Even when we tied the game at one and found our way back into the game and shouldn’t have been.”

“In the first ten minutes (of the game), if it wasn’t for (goaltender Brandon Halverson), it could have been really bad,” Bannister added.

Greyhounds forward Blake Speers echoed Bannister’s comments.

“I don’t think there’s any excuse for that effort,” Speers said.

Halverson made 32 saves in the game for the Greyhounds.

“If it wasn’t for Halvy in the first ten minutes it could have been 5- or 6-0 and it was over and then I would have had to pull him for no reason,” Bannister said. “He had no bearing on the game in the sense that we gave him no help as a group.”

Zach Senyshyn and Morgan Frost scored for the Greyhounds. Frost’s goal was the first of his OHL career.

Connor Brown led the offensive attack for the Spirit with a pair of goals while also blocking a number of shots in the contest.

“Brown put his arm and his life in danger to block some of them,” Spirit Coach Greg Gilbert joked. “But he’s a warrior and that’s why he’s our captain. That’s what we need everyone to do is sacrifice for the betterment of the team. When guys are doing that, not much is getting through.”

Dylan Sadowy also scored a pair of goals for Saginaw while goaltender Evan Cormier made 16 saves.

Gilbert called the win the best game of the young season for the Spirit.

“That’s how we want to play,” said Gilbert. “We haven’t been moving our feet quite as much as we did tonight. We weren’t pressing pucks. We were breaking some bad habits of curling away from situations, where now we’re going straight in and we’re stopping and starting. Our details tonight were the best they’ve been.”

The Greyhounds finished the day 0-for-6 on the power play.

“Our power play did nothing,” Bannister said. “If we score one at any time in the game, it changes the game. Whether they’re re-inventing or trying to do too much, they need to simplify and get puck through to the net.”

The Spirit improve to 2-2-0-1 with the win while the Greyhounds drop to 4-1-2-0.

The Greyhounds return to action Saturday night against the North Bay Battalion in the final game of a three-game homestand.

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OTHER SCORES

In Erie, Alex DeBrincat scored four goals and an assist to lead the Erie Otters to a 7-2 win over the Niagara IceDogs. Dylan Strome picked up five assists while Kyle Maksimovich added a goal and two assists. Christian Girhiny and Jake Marchment also scored for the Otters while Taylor Raddysh added a pair of assists. Ben Jones and Brendan Perlini scored for the IceDogs.

In Kingston, Chad Duchesne’s power play goal at 18:03 of the third period lifted the Kingston Frontenacs to a 2-1 victory over the Mississauga Steelheads. Ryan Cranford also scored for the Frontenacs while goaltender Lucas Peressini stopped 33 shots. Stefan LeBlanc scored the lone goal for Mississauga.

In Ottawa, Artur Tyanulin scored a pair of goals as the Ottawa 67’s beat the Oshawa Generals 4-2. Jeremiah Addison had a goal and an assist while Nathan Todd set up a pair of goals. Sam Studnicka also scored for Ottawa. Stephen Desrocher and Owen McDade scored for Oshawa.

In Sarnia, Anthony Salinitri’s goal at 4:24 of the third period was the game-winner as the Sarnia Sting beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 2-1. Kevin Spinozzi also scored while Nikita Korostelev assisted on both Sarnia goals. Mason Marchment scored for the Bulldogs.

In Guelph, Justin Nichols made 37 saves as the Guelph Storm beat the Owen Sound Attack 3-1. James McEwan scored a pair of goals while Tyler Boston also scored for the Storm. Bryson Cianfrone scored for the Attack.

In Kitchener, Christian Fischer scored in the final seconds of overtime to give the Windsor Spitfires a 3-2 win over the Kitchener Rangers. Rookie goaltender Michael DiPietro stopped 33 shots while Hayden McCool and Aaron Luchuk also scored for the Spitfires. Rangers goaltender Luke Opilka stopped 37 shots while Adam Mascherin and Connor Bunnaman scored for the Rangers.

In London, Tyler Parsons made 42 saves as the London Knights beat the Sudbury Wolves 6-2. Parsons was also credited with an empty net goal in the second period. Brandon Crawley scored a pair of goals while Kole Sherwood added a goal and an assist for the Knights. Sam Miletic, J.J. Piccinich and Chris Martenet had two assists each for London while Christian Dvorak and Mitchell Marner also scored for London. Jacob Harris and Dmitry Sokolov scored for the Wolves.

 


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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