Different look, same excitement as Jr. Greyhounds return to game action

The rules were very different than what a normal game would look like, but the Soo Jr. Greyhounds returned to the ice for game action on Saturday.

The U18 squad faced the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves in modified game action in the Great North Under-18 League Saturday at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

The two teams, with rosters of 22 players each, were split into groups of 11 (10 skaters and a goaltender) with each group getting on the ice twice.

The games were shortened from their usual 60-minute setup and there was no hitting.

Stoppages weren’t followed by faceoffs and penalties didn’t lead to two minutes in the penalty box, just a subsequent penalty shot before play started right back up.

Regardless of the rule changes, the opportunity to get into some game action was something to look forward to.

“There was a different energy at practice all week in anticipation of the games,” Jr. Greyhounds coach Jamie Henderson said following Saturday’s contests. “It’s one thing that you’re excited to play, but the games are so different with the different rules with COVID. There was definitely excitement. It was tough for both teams. You could really see it as the games went on that the guys were pretty tired. Early in the season, conditioning definitely isn’t where we’d like it to be, but for the first day, it was a good start for a lot of our guys. There were 11 guys playing their first U18 game today. It was a big welcome to this level moment. Not just the first game, but also with the different rules. They handled themselves well and the teams did well for having such long breaks.”

Looking back prior to the games, practices have been a lot different than they would be at this point, had this been a normal season.

“By December in a normal year you would have your systems down pat, but it’s just been such an odd fall that we were encouraged to mostly do skills training,” Henderson said. “We’re not anywhere near where we would like to be structure-wise. We just focused on individual skill development for the most part until the last couple of weeks here. We got to see where we’re at as a team and then individually, the guys got to see where they’re at and where they can get better.”

That said, the standard set for the Soo Jr. Greyhounds program doesn’t change just because 2020-21 isn’t a normal season.

“We have a standard with this program in how we want to play,” Henderson said. “We want to play the right way no matter what the rules are. Especially for the new guys, and for the returning guys, it’s a little bit of a wakeup. Sudbury’s got a good team. We want to play the right way and that means stopping on pucks, getting above pucks, and all of the things we talk about.”

The two teams are scheduled to meet again next Saturday in Sudbury.