SLOW START PROVES COSTLY FOR VOYAGEURS
LAC LA BICHE – It's a cliché, a mantra that every hockey player, fan and coach can repeat ad nauseum, probably in their sleep: "you gotta play 60 minutes." Of course, it's a cliché because it also happens to be true.
The Portage College Voyageurs found out the hard way Friday night that not counting to 60 can be costly. The home team, marking its 15th anniversary season with a special alumni and parent weekend, took a little while to get going against the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings at the Bold Center and lost 6-1 to the defending ACAC champions. Ryland McNinch led the way with two goals while Jacob Wozney, Nolan Doell, Ty Ettinger and Erik Miller added solo tallies. Blake Astorino replied for the Voyageurs.
Down 1-0 after only 45 seconds of the first, the Voyageurs were out-chanced and outplayed the first 10 minutes or so of the game. And yet, despite the tough start, head coach Kevin McClelland's players had a golden opportunity to turn things around before the end of the first, garnering a late-period man advantage while only down 2-0. Alas, it wasn't the TSN Turning Point that the boss was hoping for, as Kings' Player of the Game Ryland McNinch potted a shorthanded goal, his first of two tallies on the night.
"That killed us," said McClelland. "At 2-0, that can't happen. It was just guys losing containment off a lost draw. But still, you've got the extra man, you're on the powerplay. There's no way guys should get that loose and free. That was a huge point in the game."
To their credit, the Voyageurs didn't surrender after a tough first 20 minutes and battled to the final buzzer. They played a strong second period, outshooting the visitors 14-9 and finding the back of the net on the powerplay to head to the dressing room down 4-1 after two.
"We got that powerplay goal and that gave us a little bit of a spark," said McClelland of Astorino's third marker of the season. "We had some more opportunities in the second period and in the third period, they just didn't go in. I thought the guys battled to the end…I don't think that was a 6-1 game."
The Voyageurs won't have to wait long to try and pull the purple carpet from under their royal Cnetral Alberta guests as both teams will go at it again on Saturday afternoon. Despite the final score, McClelland sees lots of things his troops can build on for the rematch.
"Yeah, I mean look at the opportunities we did have," he said. "I think we had a couple of tap-ins on the powerplay; I don't know how they stayed out, but they did stay out. That's why I say an inch here and an inch there and it's a bit of a different hockey game."
The four-time Stanley Cup champion knows his youthful players need to keep their heads high, while also keeping their heads in the game – for a full 60 minutes.
"We've got to keep things positive," said McClelland. "You know, I forget myself sometimes as to how young of a team we are and their inexperience but after a while that's got to go away too."