Over the September 28th to October 1st weekend, the Soo U18 AAA Greyhounds took to the road to open their 2023 – 2024 season participating in the 2023 Toronto Titans tournament in Toronto, Ontario.
Saultsports.com caught up Soo Greyhound coach Sean Gagnon to talk about the opening weekend with Gagnon saying “it was a weekend for a lot of the young guys to get experience and an eye-opener for the team on how at this level, commitment to details, and not making mistakes is crucial. A lot of coaching staffs of other team made an effort to come and talk after the game and relayed how impressive our team was from a speed and talent point of view and related thought for being such a young team and they made a point of giving them praise for their compute level and a nice reminder to me of it’s early in the season and consistency is the maturing process which, we are committed to achieving. There were a lot of times we made mistakes by trying to do too much, but I think they realize that they have less time so decision making in little details have to be done, because against top teams, one mistake ends up in the back of your net.”
Both goalies were unbelievable, having to stop numerous breakaways, and odd man rushes! So it is a learning process for everybody, we will be back at the drawing board this week and see very quickly if some lessons have sunk in because we’re off to Detroit this upcoming weekend! But as a whole, I can see this team having success and becoming special as long as they learn and come together! I expect the most, but I am realistic, and realize this is a growing maturing process, but I have to tell you it’s very fun, frustrating, and every other emotion goes through the process with them! But I am very excited to see them evolve and become the team I believe they can achieve,” added coach Gagnon.
Lastly, Gagnon told Saultsports.com that “I saw a lot of good things at times and a lot of bad things that have to be worked on, but it was a great experience and hopefully we grow every week to our ultimate goals!
September 28th (8:45 p.m)
Myers U18 (4) vs (2) Soo Greyhounds
1st Period
6:24 Myers U18 – Maxwell Shewfelt (Unassisted) (PPG)
5:57 Ricky Wilson (Ryder Wilson, Robert Steenbakkers) (PPG)
5:24 Jacob Warnes (Unassisted)
2nd Period
13:55 Myers U18 – Zachary Venance (Joshua Caesar, Gabriel Bergeron) (PPG)
4:20 Soo Greyhounds – Cole Wreggitt (Unassisted) (PPG)
3rd Period
7:34 Soo Greyhounds – Cole Wreggitt (Danny MacDonald)
GoaltendersSoo Greyhounds – Nick Marson 45 mins (4 goals against)
Myers U18 – Darcy Murphy 45 mins (2 goals against)
September 29th (11:45 a.m)
Toronto Jr. Canadiens (6) vs (2) Soo Greyhounds
1st Period
7:36 Toronto Jr. Canadiens – M. Zurev (Unassisted)
6:37 Toronto Jr. Canadiens – H. Martel (C. Del Colombo)
6:07 Toronto Jr. Canadiens – K. Secko (Unassisted)1:19 Soo Greyhounds – Samuel Caruso (Liam Watson, Danny MacDonald) (PPG)
2nd Period
13:50 Toronto Jr. Canadiens – C. Del Colombo (Unassisted)
6:51 Toronto Jr. Canadiens – H. Martel (Unassisted)6:00 Toronto Jr. Canadiens – K. Secko (Unassisted)
3rd Period
14:45 Soo Greyhounds – Sebastian Dos Reis (Danny MacDonald)
Goaltenders
Toronto Jr. Canadiens – G. Donohue 45 mins (2 goals against)
Soo Greyhounds – A.J Borrelli 45 mins (6 goals against)
September 29th (6:45 p.m)
North York Rangers (5) vs (1) Soo Greyhounds
3rd Period
11:46 Soo Greyhounds – Griffen Albert (Wyatt Leblanc, Brady Real) (PPG)
9:00 North York Rangers – Roman Buduev (Jesse Miller)
8:43 North York Rangers – Quinton Kim-Lemay (John Ringas)
5:51 North York Rangers – Matthew Babiy (John Ringas)
4:01 North York Rangers – Joshua Giordano (Unassisted)
0:27 North York Rangers – Gavin Ramkissoon (Matthew Babiy, Philip Marcarian) (PPG)
Goaltenders
Soo Greyhounds – Nick Marson 45 mins (5 goals against)
North York Rangers – Crosby daCosta 45 mins (1 goal against)
September 30th (8:15 a.m)
Central Ontario Wolves (6) vs (0) Soo Greyhounds
1st Period
3:10 Central Ontario Wolves – Trent Nobes (Jace Lusted, Austin Fata)
2nd Period
14:13 Central Ontario Wolves – Jordan Fitger (AJ Brennan)
12:18 Central Ontario Wolves – Mac Earle (Kaiden Thatcher)
6:41 Central Ontario Wolves – Austin Fata (Nathan Stapleton)
3:56 Central Ontario Wolves – Trent Nobes (Jace Lusted, Aaron Laws)
2:44 Central Ontario Wolves – Oliver Coupal (Mac Earle, Aaron Laws)
Goaltenders
Soo Greyhounds – A.J Borrelli 45 mins (6 goals against)
Central Ontario Wolves – Jacob Walsh 45 mins (shutout)
The Soo U18 Greyhounds open their 2023 – 2024 GNU18HL season on the road when they meet the North Bay U18 Trapper on Powassan over the October 20th to October 22nd weekend.
