theclaw.ca

Calendar

< March, 2010 >

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
28	01	02	03	04	05	06
07	08	09	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31	01	02

Columns

Posted by: erika_seymour on 03/03/2009 10:18 AM
Updated by: furlong on 03/03/2009 10:18 AM
Expires: 01/01/2014 12:00 AM

Skyhawks come ‘Royal’ly close

With two weeks until playoff season begins, the North Bay Skyhawks got a tasteful look at their playoff opponent in Temiscaming, Quebec on Thursday night.

By Erika Seymour
theclaw.ca

The North Bay Skyhawks nearly let a four-goal lead slip away at Le Centre, but were able to sneak the puck past Temiscaming Royals netminder, Jim Murray, midway in the third to make the final score 6-5 for the win.

Newly acquired forward Dan Frawley opened up the scoring for the Skyhawks less than a minute into the game on a cross-ice pass from line mate Joel Senecal. Exactly two minutes later captain Kody Carnevale and Solomon McCann teamed up to tuck one away past the Royals netminder, and midway through the first period Ryan Loach closed the door on goals to make it 3-0 going into the second period.

“I’ve asked my guys before: ‘how come we always seem to come out flat early on,’” Royals head coach Steve McCharles said of the scoreless period for his team.

Lounging around seems to be an all-too-familiar pattern for the Royals. They seem to sit back and relax in the first period to see what their opponent has planned for game-strategy, and then put it into perspective once the second period rolls around. The Royals just don’t seem to be ready when it’s time for puck drop.

“We have a tough time getting motivated or prepared for the games, but we usually get rolling once the game progresses,” McCharles said as he prepares for the remainder of the season.

“However, I won’t know until playoff time comes around to know what to motivate my guys on to be ready.”

Things began to look up for the Royals in the second period when Corey Raymond put the puck away on a powerplay, but Skyhawks veteran Brad Hummel, and new kid on the block Corey Marquardt, answered for the Skyhawks with a pair of goals. Royals forward Niko Tonello bought some insurance for his team when he cut the goal margin to three heading into the last period.

“I felt we stayed focussed for a period and a half then we ran into some penalty troubles - some questionable ones I thought - but we’ve got to roll with the punches,” Skyhawks Head Coach Ian Swalucynski commented following the game.

“It takes the flow out of the game when we’re in the box all the time. It just doesn’t work out for us and we can’t get opportunities going if we don’t use our assets which are our speed and our skill. We just have to learn from it and stay out of the box.”

The Skyhawks treated the Royals to a late Valentine’s present to start off the third. Instead of a box of chocolates and a bouquet of roses, it was a seven-minute powerplay left behind in the second period by Skyhawks forward Dan Frawley. He was given two minutes for interference, five minutes for cross-checking, and a game misconduct for his actions.

ROYALS ANSWER

The Royals took the powerplay to heart and answered back with a pair of goals by Clayton Happyjack and Rylan Henley in the first five minutes of the third. A game tying-goal at the 12-minute mark by Benoit Fiset sent Royals fans into a cheering frenzy as if their team had just won a gold medal. But it didn’t last long as the Skyhawks forced the Royals to make a turnover which fell into the hands of Skyhawks forward Justin Villeneuve to make the game-winning goal.

The final 10 seconds of the game showcased two fights of what fans may expect to see in the season finale on March 1 when the Royals and Skyhawks meet up before playoffs. Joel Senecal of the Skyhawks and Stephan Gunner of the Royals got things started and ended with the crowd on the edge of their seats when Gunner dyed his white jersey red with blood streaming down from his neck. Nathan Vail and Alex Bousquet built up more excitement when they started throwing fist punches and fell to the ice. With just a handful of seconds left on the clock, each player was given five minutes for fighting and a game misconduct.

The last week of the regular season brings just three games for the Skyhawks, they’re in Iroquois Falls on Saturday to face the Abitibi Eskimos, play host to Sudbury on Sunday, and end it all off with the Royals on March 1.

Sidelined

In order to rest up some of their key players for the playoffs, Head Coach Ian Swalucynski made a decision to not dress two players per game.

“We just want to rest everybody. It will be two different guys on Saturday and two different guys on Sunday,” he explained.

“The guys that log a lot of ice time are going to get rested and guys that don’t play in all situations will be playing in ones they don’t normally do just in case we happen to run into injuries.”

Sitting out on Thursday and Saturday night for the Skyhawks will be forward Dustin Fummerton and defenceman Kyle Radigan.

Taking a rest on Sunday will be forwards Trent Lizee and Ryan Loach.