From the Times: Bouncing back from rock bottom
Bouncing back from rock bottom
Winter Hawks find their game with two wins to clinch fourth
It was like night and day. Whatever switch the Cambridge Winter Hawks had turned off since the Christmas break got flipped back on last weekend, as they shutout the Listowel Cyclones 4-0 on Saturday at the Galt Arena Gardens and edged Kitchener 3-2 on Sunday.
The win, combined with Guelph’s 8-5 loss to Brantford on Saturday, clinched fourth-place in the standings for the Winter Hawks. They will host Guelph in the first round of the playoffs.
The players that showed up against the Cyclones didn’t look anything like the team that’s been haunting the Gardens since 2012 rolled around. They hit, took a lot of shots and basically played a steady, 60-minute game.
Winter Hawks head coach Peter Crosby said the team basically hit rock bottom against Waterloo on Feb. 5. Leading 4-1 in the second period, the Winter Hawks gave up three goals to let the Siskins tie the game going into the third period. Cambridge turned things around and won that game 6-4.
“Before the third period we had a team discussion about, enough of this; enough’s enough. Let’s turn the corner and get back to the kind of hockey we can play,” Crosby said, sounding much more chipper than he did after last Saturday’s loss to Guelph.
“I don’t think there’s a team in this league that we can’t compete with and beat. I think when these guys believe that, they hold true to that.
“We had a heck of a week in practices. The guys came ready to go; they know what we went through. It was tough and a gut check for all of us. As bad as I was feeling last week, they were feeling just as bad.”
The difference was the fact that the Winter Hawks played an up-tempo game and didn’t let their foot off the pedal. After going up 1-0 just 17 seconds into the game on a Darcy Meyer’s goal, Brandon Zimmerman, Josh Timpano and Ryan Clarke added to the lead in the second period.
“That was the game plan. Get in there for 60 minutes, find that extra gear that we have and go for it,” Crosby said.
Against Kitchener, Meyer, Christian Barnard and Cody Gratton scored for the Winter Hawks.
Courtesy of Bill Doucet at the Cambridge Times. See the original article here.
