By Spencer Seymour
Ahead of the post-season, the St. Marys Lincolns got new team t-shirts with the phrase, “Be A Fisherman.” It references a Tom Brady fishing analogy, in which Brady said “fish don’t just jump in the boat,” adding one has to go and work to catch a fish, even if they aren’t at their best.
Through three games, that’s exactly what the Lincolns have done. They haven’t always been perfect, but the Lincs have found a way to win each of the first three games of their playoff series against the Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins, putting the Lincolns one win away from advancing to the second round of playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.
The quarterfinal began on March 14 with a barn-burning first game in which the Lincolns withstood a surge by the Siskins in the final two periods to escape with a 4-3 overtime victory.
Though the finish to the game was lacklustre, the Lincs enjoyed a stellar first period from which they emerged with a 2-0 lead, with both goals coming from Owen Voortman. Ryder Livermore picked up a pair of assists with individual helpers going to Ian Gedney and Luca Spagnolo.
The Siskins, who had looked jittery in the first 20 minutes, came out uber-tenacious in the second frame and quickly had the Lincolns back on their heels. Liam King got Kitchener-Waterloo on the board by tipping a long-range shot at the 4:51 mark of the second.
Head coach Jeff Bradley called the Siskins’ first goal of the night a turning point in the Lincolns losing momentum.
“As soon as we got that first goal scored against us, our confidence dropped while it fueled Waterloo’s confidence,” Bradley told the Independent. “They gained energy, and we started playing not to lose rather than playing to win. We didn’t manage the puck well. We made a lot of bad decisions and turnovers where we shouldn’t be, and from guys who don’t typically do it.”
The most memorable moment of the second period had nothing to do with the events on the ice, however, as the game was interrupted by a power outage. Goaltender Colby Booth-Housego, who made 41 saves in the Lincolns’ win, explained his reaction when the arena was suddenly plunged into darkness.
“I thought I went blind for a second there,” Booth-Housego said after the game. “I thought my eyeballs just shut off. And then, finally, I saw Blake (Elzinga) come skating by me and I realized I still had my sight, and after that, I thought it was pretty cool to experience. I was having a good time out there.”
Lincolns’ assistant captains Jaden Lee and Chase MacQueen-Spence also discussed their reactions to the power going out.
“I was right at centre ice when the power went out, and I nearly dropped to the ice and I was looking around to make sure no one was going to jump me,” Lee said. “Once everyone was back to the bench, the lights going out was one of the coolest things ever, just seeing all the flashlights coming on.”
“That was probably the craziest thing I’ve ever been through in my life,” MacQueen-Spence added. “One second, you’re watching the powerplay and the next, it’s a total blackout and there are flashlights everywhere. That was definitely a new one for me.”
Shortly after the lights came back, the Lincs got a response from Kyle Morey to take a 3-1 lead into the third, with assists from Ryan Cornfield and Chase McDougall.
A mere 59 seconds into the third, Drake Neal pounded a one-timer by Booth-Housego to cut the St. Marys lead to a single goal. Just under eight minutes later, a shot from distance by Neal hit off Jake Mallory before floating into the Lincolns’ net, tying the game at three apiece and setting the stage for an overtime period.
In the face of two periods largely dictated by the visiting Siskins, the Lincolns found a way to come away with the Game 1 win when Morey knocked a bouncing puck by netminder Nolan Chartrand in the extra frame. Lee and Spagnolo earned the assists.
Bradley noted he wasn’t happy watching his team’s final 40 minutes after a tremendous start in the opening period, which served as a reminder not to deviate from the team’s well-established gameplan.
“It certainly wasn’t pleasant in the moment. In the end, we came in looking to go up 1-0, and we did that, but I hope there was a bit of a lesson learned by our group, and we are better for it the rest of the way. In the first, we did a good job putting pressure on their defenders, but as the game went on, we just weren’t as assertive.
“We have to play our style,” Bradley continued. “We’ve had success all season playing a certain way, and we can’t be changing it up and playing as individuals. We have to play as a five-man unit. We have spent four years cultivating this structure, and we don’t want to abort that now and let ourselves think we’re too good to play the right way.”
The wild night left impressions on many members of the Lincolns’ roster, including Gedney and Jacob McLellan, who commented on the atmosphere and high-flying action of the first game of the series.
“That was my first playoff game at the (Pyramid Recreation Centre) and I’ve never seen anything like that,” Gedney said. “That was amazing and I feel like it’s only going to get better with every game we play.”
“That was quite the game,” said McLellan. “I’ve been in playoff runs on other teams where we’ve had double-overtime and triple-overtime games, and it’s definitely exciting to play in and nerve-wracking at the same time. Without a doubt, I think K-W proved they aren’t a typical eighth seed.”
Bradley echoed McLellan’s sentiments about the Siskins, making it clear they can’t look at Kitchener-Waterloo as anything less than a top-notch opponent.
“We are not taking Kitchener-Waterloo lightly at all and that’s been our message to the group the whole time. These guys came into this series 8-2 in their last 10 games of the regular season. They deserve to be here and they proved how good they are, so we’re certainly not taking them lightly. We are confident that if we play a full 60 minutes the way we played the first period, we can have success, but it won’t be easy whatsoever and if we don’t play that way, the Siskins have what it takes to make us pay.”
Lincs storm back for Game 2 victory
The Lincolns travelled to Waterloo on March 16 for the second game of the first-round series, and though the squad once again had imperfect segments in the final two periods, a better overall performance and a third-period comeback lifted St. Marys to a 3-2 win.
“I thought we were really good, especially in the first period,” Bradley said. “Waterloo pushed back in the second, but I thought we did a good job handling that. They outshot us a little bit and they got their two goals, so I think it looked a bit worse for us than it really was. And then in the third, we were really good again. I thought we limited them in our end, and we generated most of the prime scoring chances.”
The game stayed scoreless for much of the opening period until Lee finally jammed home the game’s first goal on a powerplay, assisted by Voortman and Blake Elzinga.
Much like in the first game of the series, Kitchener-Waterloo came into the second period flying, with Evan Klein scoring on a powerplay just 45 seconds into the middle stanza. Less than three minutes later, Boston Bourque flung a puck on target that found a way past goaltender Nico Armellin.
Despite the team heading into the second intermission down by a goal, Bradley was happy with his team’s ability to find ways to get scoring opportunities, even with the Siskins playing incredibly strong defensively between the bluelines.
“Nothing really changed at any point in terms of what they’re trying to do. They’re not letting us through the neutral zone or out of our end with control. But we’re not allowing them to do that either. We kept them to the outside for the most part and we generated the majority of the quality chances.”
As the Lincs continued to push in the third, they finally broke through and tied the game at two apiece when Lincoln Moore ripped a shot by Chartrand. Just a minute and 25 seconds later, Ryan Hodkinson managed to deke out Chartrand and use his long reach to tuck the puck in behind the Siskins’ netminder from below the goal line.
Hodkinson also had a clutch blocked shot in the dying moments of the game to go along with his game-winning goal. The St. Marys native, along with his linemates, Elzinga and Cohen Bidgood, received high praise from the head coach.
“The line of Ryan (Hodkinson), Blake (Elzinga) and Cohen (Bidgood) was really good. I don’t think they spent too much time in the defensive zone, and anytime you have a line playing much more in the offensive zone than in the defensive zone, it’s always good. They’re winning puck battles, they’re controlling the walls really well and they’re getting quality time in the offensive zone.”
Though they haven’t scored as much as they had in the final stretch of the regular season, Bradley credited the team for their play in the offensive zone through two games of the series.
“We’re controlling the offensive zone really well. I believe we led 23-7 in chances from inside the high-danger scoring area. We did a better job of not turning the puck over too much in Game 2 than we had in Game 1, so I think our offensive-zone play has made the difference for us so far.”
Lincs hold off Siskins’ third-period surge in Game 3
Back on home ice one day later on March 17, the Lincolns withstood yet another third-period comeback by the Siskins to earn another 3-2 win, putting Kitchener-Waterloo on the brink of elimination.
According to Bradley, the third game was the best overall performance by his squad in the series heading into Game 4 on March 20.
“It was our most complete game of the series so far. From start to finish, it was really a great game by our group. It was an unfortunate bounce for us on their first goal and then a bit of an unfortunate turnover on the powerplay that led to their second goal, but I didn’t see us giving them very many good scoring chances through the entire game. Obviously, it would have been nice to score a couple more goals, but even still, I thought we were outstanding.
“We pushed the pace and we forechecked really well,” Bradley continued. “We made smart decisions with the puck. We were executing well in the offensive zone. We were playing with the trust in ourselves that if we get the puck in the neutral zone and dump it in, we will be able to get it back. A key to that is being in good spots to support the puck and we did a really good job of that as well.”
Although the calibre of the Lincolns’ performance in the final 40 minutes of regulation was far better than it was in Game 1, the third game of the series did see some echoes of the white-knuckle finish of the series opener. The Lincs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, before the Siskins completed a two-goal comeback in the third.
Hodkinson and Moore scored for St. Marys in the opening frame, with assists by MacQueen-Spence, Ryan Cornfield, Evan Roach and Noah VandenBrink.
The two goal scorers, along with Bidgood, were standouts to coach Bradley.
“It was a good team effort, but Lincoln (Moore), Ryan (Hodkinson) and Cohen (Bidgood) were our best three, for sure. They played incredibly hard and they made great plays with the puck. Ryan won three big draws for us at the end of the game. Lincoln played in every situation and did a great job. And Cohen has been really good all series, but (in Game 3), he really brought it.”
After a scoreless second period, Kitchener-Waterloo got on the board with a flukey goal. A dump-in took an unexpected bounce out front of the net, which Klein banged into an open net after Booth-Housego had gone to play the puck.
Booth-Housego was strong once again in the Lincolns’ crease, making 24 saves en route to the victory.
A little over five minutes after Klein’s goal, a fanned-on pass was taken the other way and ultimately rocketed into the net by Damon Radley to tie the game at 2-2.
However, once again, the Lincolns found a way to come up with the victory thanks to McLellan tipping a shot from far out through the legs of Chartrand, a goal that eventually stood as the game-winner.
While generally happy with his team’s progression throughout the series, Bradley cited their intensity coming back defensively after giveaways as an area in which the team could be a little bit better come Game 4.
“I think we just want to keep making sure we’re quick to defend when we turn the puck over. There were a couple of times where we turned the puck over on our defensive side of their net, and Waterloo were getting guys behind us a little bit. It’s not happening much, but it is something we’re keeping an eye on and would like to tighten up a little bit.”
The Lincolns could sweep the series on March 20 in Waterloo as they head into the contest up 3-0 on the Siskins. If needed, Game 5 is scheduled for March 21, Game 6 is slated for March 23, and Game 7 would be March 28.
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