Great North gets it going
Soo Jr. Greyhounds took two wins and a tie from the visiting Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves as regular season play finally got underway in the Great North Under 18 Hockey League.
In modified form, the rules were much different from the norm as the teams played four games with their respective 22-player rosters divided into groups of 11, featuring 10 skaters and one goalie per squad.
Each of the mini games were two periods of 22 minutes apiece with no stoppages in play for face-offs, no intentional hitting, and penalty shots awarded instead of penalties.
In all, the Jr. Greyhounds scored 4-3 and 3-2 victories along with a 4-4 tie and 2-1 loss to the Nickel Capital Wolves.
Despite the dramatic, restricted change in the game format, all due to the coronavirus, Jr. Greyhounds head coach Jamie Henderson relayed a positive response when asked by Hockey News North about the return to play for the first time since March of this year.
“There was definitely an excitement level prior to the game and really all week we could feel it,” Henderson began. “It didn’t take long for the Soo-Sudbury rivalry to show up. Both teams wanted to win and it was great to see them competing.
“Given the rules and the pace, naturally the games slowed down but the players in great shape who played with structure really enjoyed a lot of success.
“It was a real positive start and we’ll look to build off the performance and get better at practice this week,” summed up Henderson.
