Storm Needs To Be Weathered In Game Three

“We have to focus.  We can’t do anything systematically.  It’s about being focused.  Not about being smart, but controlling your emotions.”

That was a quote from the Guelph Storm’s head coach Jason Brooks following the Guelph Storm’s 4-3 loss to the London Knight’s last night.

He pinpointed the problem exactly as the Storm racked up 37 minutes in penalties – including two ill-advised minors at the end of the first leading to two Knights goals.

Brooks felt it was the biggest difference from Friday’s game one loss to Sunday’s loss, but it was something they could learn from going into game three tonight in London.

“We didn’t play a poor game, we just let our emotions get the best of us,” he said.  “We have to get back to keeping it simple much like the third period [where they scored two goals] and take away some positives.”

Star player for the Storm and Nashville Predators prospect Taylor Beck echoed his coaches sentiments.

“We’ve played two great games and had a little let down today with two penalties at the end of the first period,” he said.  “Those kind of cost us the game.  When we get down like we did, the leaders on the team need to stay positive and it might rub off on one of the younger players.”

Another thorn in the side of the Storm through the first two games has been Nazem Kadri.

The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect has had a point on five of the eight London goals so far in the series.

Beck knows that he and his teammates need to do a better job of isolating Kadri when he’s on the ice.

“Anytime you’re on the ice you need to know who you’re playing against,” he said.  “He’s a good player and has done well so far in the first two games, so we’ll have to keep a better eye on him as the series goes on.”

Guelph was rolling in high gear coming into these playoffs having won nine out of their last ten games to move from outside of the playoff picture to seventh spot in the conference.

But now, having lost two in a row and returning to London for game three, Beck believes that they should be satisfied with where they are as of now.

“We know that London is a great team,” he said.  “We aren’t surprised of how they’ve come out, but it’s been an overtime and regulation loss  so we have to be happy with what we have so far.”

On the flip side, he also believes that his team doesn’t deserve to be down 2-0 in the series.

“We have a lot of confidence heading back to London, we know we can play with them,” Beck said.  “Hopefully we can grab one there and the second back in Guelph to to tie 2-2.”

Brooks believes his team still has a chance.

“To me, we’re not done until we’re done,” he said.  “A month ago, we lost to Owen Sound and London in back-to-back games and everyone wrote us off and said we were done.  For us to have lost two games by one goal [in this series], it’s far from over.”