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Greyhounds roster down to 26 following camp

The team is set to carry 14 forwards, eight defencemen and four goaltenders
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The Soo Greyhounds have moved one step closer to the roster it will begin the Ontario Hockey League regular season with.

Following Friday’s annual Luke Williams Memorial Red and White game, the Greyhounds made 18 cuts to bring its roster down to 26 players heading into exhibition action.

The team is set to carry 14 forwards, eight defencemen and four goaltenders for the time being.

The roster includes four goaltenders in veterans Matthew Villalta and Tyler Johnson along with rookies Owen Parker and Ethan Taylor.

“It’s tough in one sense because you’re trying to evaluate guys for positions but you’re also trying to plan out the best development plan for some of these young goaltenders,” Greyhounds General Manager Kyle Raftis said of the goaltending decision.

After three goaltenders were cut on Thursday, two more, Owen Porter and Kyle McNair, were cut following Friday’s game to get down to the four who remain.

The eight defencemen remaining on the roster are veterans Anthony DeMeo, Mac Hollowell, Phil Caron, Holden Wale, Jordan Sambrook and Jacob LeGuerrier as well as rookies Ryan O’Rourke and Robert Calisti. 

The forward group includes veterans Barrett Hayton, Morgan Frost, Keeghan Howdeshell, Cole MacKay, Ryan Roth, Brett Jacklin, Joe Carroll and Zack Trott along with rookies Roman Pucek, Cullen McLean, Dominic Mufarreh, Alex Johnston, Rory Kerins, and Tye Kartye.

In addition to the two goaltenders, also cut on Friday night were defencemen Matt Halushak, Cole McGuire, Kobe Seguin and Cam McLean, and forwards Connor Guest, Dan Ebrahim, Caleb Wood, Jake Rauch, Kalvyn Watson, Tyson Tomasini, Mason Dreger, Nate Boomhower, Theo Todd, Albert Liparoti, Declan Hilton and Noah Boman.

“There were some tough decisions, especially in the goaltending position and some of the forwards as well,” Raftis said. 

Greyhounds Coach John Dean said that training camp showed him a deep prospect pool for the organization. 

“We’ve got a pretty deep prospect group,” Dean said. “We had a group of 40 kids out there (in the Red/White game) and whether they get signed or don’t get signed, it was a good group of players out there that should be proud of their week. As a coach, it’s exciting to see that many guys competing for spots. The future looks bright.”

In Friday’s game, Team Red picked up a 6-3 win over Team White.

The two teams skated to a scoreless opening period with goaltender Ethan Taylor making 12 saves for Team Red and veteran Tyler Johnson making 17 saves at the other end for Team White.

The teams would combine for seven goals in the middle period, including four in the opening 3:06 of the frame. Team Red added a pair of goals in the third period to cap off the game.

Zack Trott, Nate Boomhower, Jordan Sambrook, Cam McLean, Rory Kerins and Keeghan Howdeshell scored in regulation time for Team Red while Barrett Hayton, Ryan Roth and Mac Hollowell scored for Team White.

Team Red’s goaltending trio of Ethan Taylor, Owen Porter and Owen Parker combined for 33 saves while Team White’s group that included Matthew Villalta, Tyler Johnson and Kyle McNair combined for 37. 

Team White outscored Team Red 4-0 in the post-game shootout.

“It’s a long week for some of the young players,” Raftis said. “Fort he most part, guys did what they came here to do and that was make plays. There was some good puck movement and it was good to see.”

“A few of the young guys were a little tired,” Raftis also said. “It’s been a good week in terms of evaluating because we have to make a lot of decisions with the lineup. I feel like we got a good sample size for a lot of players in where they’re at based off their summer development, development camp and some that were here last year.”

Dean called training camp a “mentally draining week.”

“Especially for the young guys who don’t know what to expect for their first time in camp,” Dean said. “It’s a long week.”

With 26 players on the roster, the Greyhounds have a team-building weekend planned before getting back on the ice on Monday morning for practice.

Friday was the opening day of exhibition action around the OHL. 

Scores from around the league on Friday included the Saginaw Spirit beating the North Bay Battalion 3-0 in tournament action in Kitchener. Also in Kitchener, the host Rangers beat the Quebec League’s Moncton Wildcats 4-0. In showcase action in Buffalo, the Flint Firebirds beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 5-2 and the Windsor Spitfires beat the Erie Otters 5-4. 

Other exhibition games on Friday saw the Oshawa Generals beat the Mississauga Steelheads 4-1, the Barrie Colts beat the Niagara IceDogs 1-0, the Ottawa 67’s beat the Sudbury Wolves 3-1and the London Knights beat the Sarnia Sting 4-1.

The Peterborough Petes made waves on Friday as the team dealt Will Cuylle, who was the third overall pick in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection, to the Windsor Spitfires in exchange for three second round picks (one conditional), three third rounders and a fifth round pick. In addition to those picks, the Petes also get the fifth overall pick in next years draft as well as the final pick of the second round as compensation for Cuylle not reporting.

The full deal shakes down as follows:

  • To Windsor: Will Cuylle
  • To Peterborough: Kingston’s 2nd round pick in 2019, Barrie’s 2nd round pick in 2022, Kitchener’s 2nd round pick in 2024 (conditional), Kingston’s third round pick in 2020, a 3rd round pick in 2021 and a 3rd round pick in 2023 and a 5th round pick in 2020

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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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