Hounds have the foot soldiers

By Randy Russon
August 24, 2016
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They boast veteran forwards who can score — National Hockey League draft picks such as Zachary Senyshyn, Blake Speers, Boris Katchouk, Tim Gettinger and Jack Kopacka plus overage Bobby MacIntyre — but it’s the foot soldiers who may ultimately impact the success of the Soo Greyhounds in 2016-2017.

As the Greyhounds have aspirations of moving up the Ontario Hockey League chart after a seventh-place finish in the Western Conference in 2015-2016, it is lighter-scoring forwards Hayden Verbeek, Morgan Frost and Liam Howell who will be counted on to provide the third-and-fourth-line spark and depth that often determines how far a contending team can go.

And make no mistake about it, the Greyhounds will be looking to contend this season as they build off a stunning first-round playoff upset of the second-seeded Sarnia Sting during last spring’s playoffs.

Not that the Western Conference is anything but highly-competitive.

The reigning OHL and Memorial Cup champion London Knights will no doubt be primed to defend their titles.

The 2017 Memorial Cup host Windsor Spitfires have loaded up for their guaranteed berth with intent to win the Western Conference and not need their free pass to the national championship tournament.

Kitchener Rangers have been building for this season and with the addition of Sault Ste. Marie’s Jason Fortier as associate coach, have a coaching staff that is second-to-none.

Nonetheless, the Greyhounds figure to be in the thick of things, especially if Joseph Raaymakers lives up to potential in his third season as an OHL goalie, albeit his first as the projected starter.

But it still could come down to those valuable foot soldiers like the 19-year old Verbeek and 17-year olds Frost and Howell to make a difference.

And let us not forget about Frankie Pucci, the Sault Ste. Marie product who got his first real taste of the OHL with the Hounds during last spring’s playoffs after three years in the system of the Erie Otters.

Pucci scored a goal in the playoffs and did not look out of place as a fourth-line contributor. What Pucci has against him is that he is 19-years old now and the Hounds have depth aplenty on the forward lines. But if the Hounds don’t find room for Pucci, he could well end up on another OHL team and be a valuable third-or-fourth-liner.

There are certain Greyhound fans who aren’t sold on Pucci, jealous perhaps that is a local kid who has persevered and moved up the hockey ladder on his own. You know the kind of spiteful, envious fan that I am talking about — the smart-aleck type with nothing better to do than mouth off and try to act smarter than the next guy.

Getting back on track after that brief detour, there is a lot to like about the Greyhounds for 2016-2017, beginning with those multiple forwards who are above-average in so many ways. And while there is so much to like about Senyshyn, Speers, Katchouk, Gettinger, Kopacka and MacIntyre, it’s guys like Verbeek, Frost and Howell who are the wild cards.

I am no hockey coach but I have been writing and talking the game as a paid sportswriter and sportscaster since 1975 and after a while, you get a sense of what to expect and who makes what tick.

I have a good feeling about what the likes of Verbeek, Frost and Howell can bring to the Hounds this season.

And methinks second-year Hounds head coach Drew Bannister has a similar good feeling.

PHOTO: Greyhounds forward Hayden Verbeek, in action. (Photo by Postmedia.)