February 22, 2012
Posted in Ontario Edition, Minor Midget
BY ADAM DUNFEE /
The Eastern Ontario Wild’s struggles against the Ottawa Valley Titans have carried over into the playoffs.
The Wild were winless against the Titans in the regular season going 0-4-1 and then drew the top-ranked Titans in the first round of the playoffs.
The Titans stuck to the script in Game 1 of their series, beating the Wild 5-1.
But Wild head coach Rick Legault isn’t ready to raise the white flag.
“Player for player, we’re just as good (as the Titans); I think their strength is in net while that’s our weakness.”
The Wild finished the regular season with a 12-12-6 record but entered the playoffs on a three game losing streak. In their last regular season game they lost 4-1 to the Titans in a playoff preview.
But Legault doesn’t put much stock in the team’s play to closeout the season.
“I think most teams just went through the motions in the last games. We didn’t want any injuries and we were working on different things.”
Legault has coached the Wild’s Minor Midget team to the OHL Cup tournament in two of the past three seasons and is aiming to make a return trip in 2012 after missing last season.
The team got a big boost at the beginning of 2012 when forward Tanner Spink returned to the lineup after missing more than two months with a broken collarbone.
Spink made a big impact in his first regular season game back from injury recording four points in a 5-3 win over the Upper Canada Cyclones.
Spink finished the season with 23 points in 17 games.
Dean Derouchie finished the regular season as the Wild’s leading scorer collecting 40 points in 29 games. It was the first time in three seasons that Derouchie scored at better than a point per game pace.
“Dean’s on the smaller side but he’s a very skillful player with a lot of speed,” says Legault. “He works on his speed and he’s good around the net.”
On Feb. 7 the Wild honoured the memory Ottawa Senators assistant coach Luke Richardson’s daughter Daron, who took her own life at just 14 years old in 2010, by wearing purple laces and using purple hockey tape as part of the Do if for Daron campaign.
The campaign was started by Richardson and his wife Stephanie after their daughter’s suicide to raise awareness about youth mental health issues and help young people dealing with them.
The team also donated $100 to the cause.
If you or anyone you know needs help you can call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 to speak with someone.
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