Mar 10, 2019 | GeoffRead | 668 views
Sharp-Dressed Coach Leads Team to Key Victory
The West London Hawks Atom A4 squad faced a critical test Saturday late-morning at Carling Arena. Facing off against North London C4, a team they had tied the previous weekend, the Hawks, sitting in last place in the playoffs round robin standings, knew they had to bring their A game. Bring it they did, as the Hawks used grit, determination, excellent team defence, and some scoring heroics from Troy Price to score a pretty decisive 4-2 win.
The Hawks had jump in their step from the first drop of the puck, hustling on every play, causing turnovers, and keeping the pressure on the Nationals. They didn't dominate exactly, but they were the more aggressive team on the whole seizing the initiative.
Where did this energy come from? Some hypothesized that Coach Geoff Read set the tone by showing up in a snappy sport jacket, dress pants, button-down shirt, and Huron University tie ensemble. Others said that the upgrade at the trainer position, with Adam Steele handling the duties in the absence of coaches Liam Walsh and Chris Askew, might have held the secret to success. Whatever it was, the Hawks had the fire in their belly they showed through the excellent stretch of play they enjoyed in December and January, a hot streak that got them into the upper bracket in the playoffs. In February, partly because of two long periods of inactivity, the Hawks lost their mojo a bit and this game might be a sign that they have rediscovered it.
So the Hawks carried the play for much of the first period. They had numerous chances to score with James Nielsen, Zoe Read, Nathan Mason, Connor Devlin, Price, and Maria Fernanda Pimentel all getting good chances without being able to convert.
Then, early in the second period things took a turn for the worse, as the Nationals scored two quick goals on flukey plays. On the first, the puck was centered from behind the Hawks net and ricocheted off the back of goalie Kayden Keating's foot and squeaked into the net. On the second, just a minute later, an initially harmless shot from the point deflected off something in the high slot, changed direcitons, and eluded Keating. Then, the bad luck continued when Read took a selfish penalty on a big forward from the Nationals, who'd already gotten away with a couple of plays that probably should have been called as body checks, cracked her into the boards. Read's response was to chase him across the ice and fell him with a shoulder to the torso and a hard whack at the puck/stick. It's not entirely clear that the play should have been called a penalty but it was almost bound to be under the circumstances.
So, all signs pointed to another hard luck loss for the Hawks. But, in fact, this turned out to be a turning point of a different kind for the team. The penalty killing was outstanding as a succession of penalty killers hustled all over the ice, outworked the Nationals, and kept their power play at bay. The Hawks killed off the penalty.
Alas, Brandon Miles then took a hooking penalty. Again: the Hawks killed it off surviving to fight another day. Among the players who did outstanding work were defenders Gregory Nicolis, Paul Steele, Aiden Hayes, and, on Read's penalty, Miles. Up front, defender Anderson Watt subbing in at forward showed hustle and determination, as did Walsh, Devlin, Mason, Pimentel, Nielsen, Price and, on the second kill, Read.
This, combined with a prediction from Coach Read on the bench that the Hawks were "going to win this hockey game, I can feel it", seemed to give the Hawks renewed life. In the dying second of the period, Price led a nice rush into the Nationals' zone, put a hard shot on net that the goalie saved but couldn't control and Devlin, smart as a whip had gone straight to the net where he picked up the puck and depositied straight into the yawning cage.
Thus the Hawks entered the final frame down just 2-1.
The third period was the Troy Price show, as Price bobbed and weaved all over the ice creating chances for himself and for his teammates. The result was a natural hat-trick for the speedy winger in the period that propelled the Hawks to victory.
But what might, on paper, look like a great individual game was in fact a team effort. Take the game-winning goal as an example. Miles intercepted a Nationals pass in the neutral zone and smartly backed up with the puck to buy himself some room and time. He then reversed the flow up the boards to Pimentel. Now, in some earlier games, Pimentel, in her very first season of hockey, might have turned and fired this puck blindly up the ice. But on this occasion, having been coached all season to start skating as soon as she got the puck and take a look for a pass, the gritty winger did exactly that. Pimentel took two or three strides with the puck, spotted Price breaking across the middle towards the Nationals' blueline, and fed him a tape to tape pass. Price then did the rest, breaking into the attacking zone, beating the defender wide and then putting a nice shot in the far side. In sum then, this was Price's goal but it never would've happened without good plays made by Miles and Pimentel.
The insurance goal was another example of good team play. Hayes pursued a National behind the net. Nicolis, recognizing this, switched off with Hayes and took the front of the net. Hayes then got the puck from the forward and put the puck up the boards. There was Nielsen who outworked two Nationals to get the puck out at the blueline and up to the waiting Price. Price then recreated his previous goal, but on this occasion he put it off the right-side post and in instead of the left one. Again: good teamwork by the Hawks produced this goal.
Price would have been a natural choice as player of the game, but instead the coaches went with Miles. The lineup was shuffled a bit in this one, with Miles playing with Steele and Hayes and Nicolis paired together. The results were spectacular as both defensive pairs played outstanding hockey. Really, the Nationals got very few grade A chances - there were maybe 2 or 3 in the third when Keating bailed out his teammates - but even the two goals that went in were, as noted, not really the result of bad defensive play - they were just bad luck. And among the group of 4 defenders, all of whom played well, Miles stood out. He was all over the ice making stops. He was covering the front of the net. He was winning battles in the corners. He was making smart, safe plays with the puck and despite his one penalty, he showed restraint by not retaliating on at least two occasions when he had cause to be upset.
This was a game of unsung heroes - wherein everyone on the team brought their best effort. Thus it seemed fitting that Miles, the consistent battler on the back end, should get the nod.
The Hawks therefore have moved themselves back into contention for the final four weekend at the end of March. If they continue to play as they did yesterday, they will make that playdown .
Go Hawks go!
PS - in other Hawks' news, on Friday night the team played an exhibition game at Bud Gardens. In that contest, the team showed signs of the turnaround that took place yesterday, working hard but coming up short in a 4-2 loss to West London D4. Nathan Mason scored two goals with Zoe Read assisting on both and the player of the game was Anderon Watt, playing his natural position on defence where he was a tower of strength all night, doing a spectacular job of breaking up rushes and of holding the line at the offensive blueline. For those Hawks who were able to stay until the end of the Knights' match that evening, they were treated to a spectacular goaltending performance by the Flint Firebirds' goalie Emanuel Vella who faced nearly 60 shots and held his team in the game until the overtime when the Knights won the game when their own goalie, Jordan Kooy made one of the smartest plays you'll ever see firing the puck out of a scrum straight up the middle of the ice to Adam Boqvist who went in on a breakaway and scored for the win. It was a fun night out for the team.