A first for the Collingwood Ice
Collingwood Ice of the new Canadian International Hockey League won its first-ever pre-season game against the Colborne Hawks in front of a good-sized, partisan crowd in nearby Wasaga Beach on Saturday night.
Collingwood upended Colborne 11-1 led by Phil Koufis, who had four goals and two assists.
Mac Fleming chipped in with a goal and four assists for Collingwood and Alex Boswell had five helpers.
Derek Boudreault added two goals for Collingwood while single goals were tallied by Krystof Rykala, Austin Bissonnette, Jack Underhill and Jake Bayer. Matt Dickieson and Dawson Heyworth chipped in with a pair of assists apiece.
The ICE looked very good out there. Most impressive was the discipline noted throughout the whole game by all players. Although the Hawks were clearly not up to the task, the ICE showed sportsmanship by not falling into traps often seen in these kind of games. Hats off to all and especially the coaching staff who certainly communicated their message clearly, this will go a long way throughout the upcoming season. Bravo ICE !!
to ICEFAN: thanks for the Info. As a fan of the CIHL shood we be worried about the Colborne team? ?
To Hockey Advisor: Worried maybe not; concerned a little that they have not been able to recruit more higher level players. With new leagues, it is probably normal to see such differences between teams at the start of the season, I am sure the Hawks coaching staff has a lot of work to do to try and close the gap. Their first goalie looked good but their defense was overwhelmed by the ICE’s offensive speed. Their second goalie was simply not ready for that level and they definitely have to solve the defensive problems first should they look to compete in that league. Their offense showed some sparks at time, they can build on this. Hopefully Milton and Toronto will bring higher competition to the ice because Collingwood could easily close the Southern division early in the season. Note that their highest skilled player, Russian forward was not dressed and that the ICE played with only 3 forward lines. Once full roster is on, this team will be hard to beat. Cheers.
Thanks ICEFAN now another question – about how many Fans were at the Game? The article says packed house how many fans wood that be?
Hard to say as it is a very small arena, 100 “ball-park” figure. And the game was at Wasaga. Once the ICE is moving into their new home mid-October, they should have very good support from the community. Eddie Bush arena is being renovated and the city is very excited to see the new venue, their new hockey team will be “ICING” on the cake !!
ICEFAN, is the Russian player you mention the Erileev kid? I’m just asking because both the Sudbury team and the Collingwood team claimed to have signed him over the summer.
Yes, that is the kid. Saw him at the arena Saturday, he is definitely playing for the ICE, he has been practicing with the team for at least 2 weeks. Awesome hockey player !
Thank you ICEFAN.
Hopefully the Milton and Toronto entries will field more competitive teams. It’s fun winning but not when the competition is as weak as the Colborne team is, at least right now. Too bad the rosters aren’t available. The league website looks good but load times are bad and too much missing information.
Here in the North, I’ve been able to see all four teams at least once and it’s better compeition to a certain extent. Batchewan is certainly way above the other teams although St-Charles doesn’t look too bad. Espanola is not close to being as good as last year and the Sudbury team does not look good so far at least.
Cheers and have a good season.
I am curius if Derek Boudreau is playng for this Collingwood Team. He is a good young player and a good kid from a good Family who played in Kingston last season. If this is true that Derek is playing for Collingwood then best of luck to him and his new Team in this new League!! He is young maybe 16 Yrs Old and a real good prospect. I met his Dad at a Game last year. I think they are from Hull Quebec.
Yes he is the one who played for the Kingston Minor Midget AAA last year. The only 1998 skater on the team. He did very well at first game scoring 2 goals, from what I saw he is a tall forward with excellent skating abilities. Power forward material as he is only 16 and will certainly get taller/bigger. Excellent pick for the ICE. Watch for this kid…..
ICE fans are gonna be happy about signing Erileev. I’ve seen him couple times when he played for the Jets. Awww guys.. I was so impressed. His work ethic and ability to step up is magnificent! I thought he went to Major Juniors this summer.. Is anybody know why he didn’t make it?