Undefeated No More

Being in the loss column is not something the Barrie Colts have been used to this season.

After finishing the season 59-8-0-2 there hasn’t been much adversity in the Colts locker room. But now that they find themselves tied 1-1 in the OHL Eastern Conference Finals after a 5-2 loss to the Mississauga Majors – their first of the playoffs -you’d think they would be a little more tentative going forward.

Colts coach Marty Williamson begs to differ.

“It’s a loss, and you have to move on,” he said.  “We didn’t expect this to be an easy road.  It’s a heck of a hockey team over there and they played their game tonight.  We’ll be fine tomorrow.  We knew each game of this series would be a war and it will be a different one tomorrow.”

Barrie defenceman TJ Brodie agreed.

“We haven’t had to do this much this year,” he said.  “We always said all year we don’t lose two in a row.  Tomorrow night’s a big game and we’re just going to go into like any other game and play the way we play.”

The Majors were guided by their much-maligned power play, scoring twice on six opportunities.  They also shut down one of the best power plays in the league, netting a shorthanded goal to boot which ultimately was the deciding marker.

Majors coach Dave Cameron was happy that his power play finally worked out the kinks.

“Our PP has struggled,” he explained.  “I thought our thought process and decision making were good but the execution was horrible.  Sometimes it’s luck too, but I thought we made good decisions and our execution on it was better [tonight].  We were able to get pucks to the net with some traffic.”

Majors forward Dustin Ekelman, who scored the shorthanded goal, feels that the Majors match up well with Barrie and can play with them.

“We’re very confident,” he said.  “We have a good bunch of guys in the room and good morale.   We obviously know that they have a great team and high powered offense.  So if we can stay above pucks and play good defense, it gives us a good chance.”

One of the philosophies that Cameron has been preaching to his team has been to keep their composure throughout these playoffs.  It has paid off so far, especially in game two.

“If you’re going to have any success in the playoffs, it’s about composure,” he said.  “Each series is a marathon and the playoffs are a marathon.  Tonight, a great first period, back on their heels a little bit.  But you aren’t going to shut Barrie out.  We spoke at the second intermission about how we’re right where we wanted to be and reminded them again of composure.”

With momentum on their side, the Majors will look to take a 2-1 series lead against the Colts in game three Saturday night in Barrie.

Hopefully, for their sake, staying composed will continue to slow down their offensive juggernaut opponent.