Feb 21, 2016 | Craig McLaren | 597 views
HAWKS Split a Huge Weekend!!!
The Cambridge minor peewee HAWKS entered the weekend seeking a HUGE 4 points against their bitter rival the Kitchener Rangers. After a hard fought, 1-0 loss on Saturday the HAWKS found themselves back in the friendly confines of the Preston Aud. Having been away from their home arena since January 3 the HAWKS showed just how happy they were to be home with a monster 7-2 win!
With their backs against the wall in a must win situation the HAWKS elevated their game and dominated the visitors from Kitchener. If anyone wondered what the coaching staff means by HAWKS hockey there sure was a good display of it on Sunday!!
When asked what the keys to the lop-sided win, head coach Craig McLaren quipped "well, I wore my lucky shirt and found my lucky pen before the game! No seriously though, we sent wave after wave of black into the offensive end and thats what HAWKS hockey is. We got pucks deep and forced their defensemen to turn it over. Just when they thought they only had one HAWK to beat, the second HAWK was right there on top of him. Our boys played with desperation today and that's what playoff hockey is all about. We have to get pucks deep and lots of pucks at their net...doesn't matter who we are playing. We have to play desperate with a sense of urgency to score. Every time we enter the offensive zone we have to have it in our heads that we NEED to score a goal. Today we played with that mind-set and yesterday we didn't...see the difference?"
I guess we sure saw a HUGE difference. With strong 2 goal performances by both Riley Murphy and Aidan Desousa and singles going to Justin Pimentel, Brady McLaren and a highlight reel goal from Riley Panagapka coach Neil Fewster explained his thoughts on why we saw a huge up-swing in scoring. "Coach Craig, Rick and I discussed a lot of things after yesterday's loss and we looked at how much our offence has dried up. The forwards were playing well but after the first 4 games we had only scored 6 goals. Sometimes we just have to switch things up for the sake of a shake up...today it worked! All 3 lines were going strong. All 3 lines contributed to the score sheet. All 3 lines played strong games in the defensive end and that's the reason we won. I truly believe when we have all 17 players playing their games and following the game plan we are a top team in the league! The boys have to believe it too - that's the key. Coach Craig mentioned it today, every time they have REALLY been challenged this year in a big game they have responded. The key to the next 5 games is to play as desperate as we did today...we do that and we will do some damage in these playoffs!!"
From a fan's perspective it was a very exciting game to watch! Following this team all season I know first hand that the HAWKS like to see their d-men step up into the play and gap up - today as no exception. The HAWKS D, coupled with another strong effort from goaltender Danny Rose basically created a big wall across the blue line. According to one parent the Rangers put 24 pucks at the HAWKS' net vs 28 shots against the Rangers but I can say for certain that of their 24 shots only a handful were good scoring opportunities. "We had great goaltending all weekend" indicated coach Craig. "Hammer Time was unreal yesterday, one of the best games I have seen him play all season. It was very unfortunate we couldn't get him the win but Rosie followed it up with another strong performance. Goaltending is key to winning championships...when these two guys just worry about stopping pucks they are the best one two punch in the league!"
So what's next for these HAWKS? They are back in action on Wednesday against another rival, the Burlington Bulldogs. "Burlington is a very good team" explained coach Craig. "We need an effort equal to or greater than tonight's effort in order to be successful. We are desperate for wins right now. Burlington is behind us in the standings and we need to do our best to keep them there. It's a HUGE game for us, HUGE. Our guys have to come prepared to play and be desperate. We need to play with that urgency in our game, we need to play playoff hockey...no 'if only's' on Wednesday!"
There ya have it folks. So glad HAWKS' hockey is back! Its been a long wait for some of us but we were sure given a special treat with today's effort. Can't wait for Wednesday's next big game! I have my tickets already - you may want to do the same!!
(HSN from the HAWKS nest)
HAWKS Chirps
- Hey who knew we have been amongst a celebrity for the last few years??? Did anyone realize our very own Peter Kowalewski was the rubic's cube master at GCI for years?? NICE!!!!!
- Hey Bubbles, how did the night stand taste?
- Rumour has it parent rep John Hanko wear's Kim's socks to bed! Must get cold out in the country!!
- Nice to hear Kitchener and Cambridge mom's are ok to share a square! True sportsmanship!!
- Not much to say about weight-lifter Nelson Pimentel...he's been keeping things on the down-low ever since he was caught red-handed fishing cups out of the garbage in Waterloo!