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Weekend Jr. A Recap (Nov. 20)
2016-11-21
Greg Maggio defends against a wraparound in his Valley Wildcats debut. (photo by Emily Halbersma)
The Wildcats saw their win streak end, but bounced back within forty-eight hours.
(written by Justin Halbersma)
The Greenwood Auto Sales Valley Wildcats are a deceptive lot. No one quite knows which side is the true face of the franchise.
Is the face of the 2016-17 Valley Jr. A Wildcats the team that stormed out to a 3-0 lead in Truro on November 18, only to drop the game 7-4 in the end? Or is their face the team that played a solid game throughout all three periods against the Summerside Capitals on November 20, which ultimately gave the Wildcats a 3-2 shootout win?
The Valley Wildcats traveled to Truro November 18 to face the Truro Bearcats. Coming into the game, Valley was flying high, riding a three game win streak. Early on, it looked as though that streak would continue, as the Wildcats staked themselves to a 3-0 lead early in the second period. The home crowd had been silenced, and the Wildcats were rolling.
However, as been the case too often in this MHL season, penalty trouble allowed the Bearcats the opportunity to claw back to within one midway through the second period. The Wildcats scored on their own powerplay to widen the gap to 4-2 going into the third.
Then the wheels fell off for the Wildcats. Before the period was five minutes old, the Wildcats found themselves down 5-4. Truro was swarming the Wildcat zone, and Valley netminder Justin Ritcey found himself under siege, with little help from his teammates. When the dust settled at the end of the third, Truro had won the game 7-4 on the back of a Zach Moody hat trick.
Leon Denny, Kyle Tibbo, Dylan Burton, and Brandon Hughes all added to the Truro attack. Nic Blanchard, Drew Stonehouse, Riley Cunningham, and Evan Scott replied for the Wildcats.
Truro netminder Jason Rioux settled down after a shaky start and faced 33 Valley shots. Valley goaltender Justin Ritcey stared down 43 Bearcat shots…including 17 in the third period alone.
Stinging from this loss, the Wildcats returned to the Kings Mutual Century Center in Berwick to prepare for the arrival of the Summerside Western Capitals. The team welcomed newly acquired goaltender Greg Maggio into the fold, and he would get the call in goal for the Wildcats. Having come from the western leagues of Canada, few knew what he would deliver.
What he delivered was one of the more memorable debuts in recent Valley history.
After a relatively quiet start, Maggio found himself with a 2-1 lead early in the third. The Capitals caught fire in that period, and they threw everything they had at Maggio, beginning a 21 shot barrage at the Wildcat goalie. Maggio stood tall, allowing only one shot to get by him while the Capitals had an extra attacker. By the end of the period, Maggio had the fans cheering every save he made, and to make his debut even more nerve-wracking, the game would eventually go into overtime. The extra period solved nothing, and so the two teams found themselves in a shootout.
If nerves were an issue for Maggio, it didn’t show. He calmly shut down all three Capital shooters, allowing Ilya Putintsev to seal the deal for the Wildcats with the only goal of the shootout.
Putintsev and Grant Janes scored in regulation for the Wildcats, while Sebastien Cormier and Brodie MacArthur replied for Summerside.
Valley outshot Summerside 49-36. Summerside netminder Matt Williams was also outstanding in the Capital net, as he matched Maggio save for save. It was a true goalie duel, which ultimately went to Maggio.
The Wildcats showed resiliency and poise in their bounceback win. Their goaltending appears set with two quality netminders manning the goal, and this should be the start of a great stretch for the Wildcats.
The Greenwood Auto Sales Valley Wildcats are a deceptive lot. No one quite knows which side is the true face of the franchise.
Is the face of the 2016-17 Valley Jr. A Wildcats the team that stormed out to a 3-0 lead in Truro on November 18, only to drop the game 7-4 in the end? Or is their face the team that played a solid game throughout all three periods against the Summerside Capitals on November 20, which ultimately gave the Wildcats a 3-2 shootout win?
The Valley Wildcats traveled to Truro November 18 to face the Truro Bearcats. Coming into the game, Valley was flying high, riding a three game win streak. Early on, it looked as though that streak would continue, as the Wildcats staked themselves to a 3-0 lead early in the second period. The home crowd had been silenced, and the Wildcats were rolling.
However, as been the case too often in this MHL season, penalty trouble allowed the Bearcats the opportunity to claw back to within one midway through the second period. The Wildcats scored on their own powerplay to widen the gap to 4-2 going into the third.
Then the wheels fell off for the Wildcats. Before the period was five minutes old, the Wildcats found themselves down 5-4. Truro was swarming the Wildcat zone, and Valley netminder Justin Ritcey found himself under siege, with little help from his teammates. When the dust settled at the end of the third, Truro had won the game 7-4 on the back of a Zach Moody hat trick.
Leon Denny, Kyle Tibbo, Dylan Burton, and Brandon Hughes all added to the Truro attack. Nic Blanchard, Drew Stonehouse, Riley Cunningham, and Evan Scott replied for the Wildcats.
Truro netminder Jason Rioux settled down after a shaky start and faced 33 Valley shots. Valley goaltender Justin Ritcey stared down 43 Bearcat shots…including 17 in the third period alone.
Stinging from this loss, the Wildcats returned to the Kings Mutual Century Center in Berwick to prepare for the arrival of the Summerside Western Capitals. The team welcomed newly acquired goaltender Greg Maggio into the fold, and he would get the call in goal for the Wildcats. Having come from the western leagues of Canada, few knew what he would deliver.
What he delivered was one of the more memorable debuts in recent Valley history.
After a relatively quiet start, Maggio found himself with a 2-1 lead early in the third. The Capitals caught fire in that period, and they threw everything they had at Maggio, beginning a 21 shot barrage at the Wildcat goalie. Maggio stood tall, allowing only one shot to get by him while the Capitals had an extra attacker. By the end of the period, Maggio had the fans cheering every save he made, and to make his debut even more nerve-wracking, the game would eventually go into overtime. The extra period solved nothing, and so the two teams found themselves in a shootout.
If nerves were an issue for Maggio, it didn’t show. He calmly shut down all three Capital shooters, allowing Ilya Putintsev to seal the deal for the Wildcats with the only goal of the shootout.
Putintsev and Grant Janes scored in regulation for the Wildcats, while Sebastien Cormier and Brodie MacArthur replied for Summerside.
Valley outshot Summerside 49-36. Summerside netminder Matt Williams was also outstanding in the Capital net, as he matched Maggio save for save. It was a true goalie duel, which ultimately went to Maggio.
The Wildcats showed resiliency and poise in their bounceback win. Their goaltending appears set with two quality netminders manning the goal, and this should be the start of a great stretch for the Wildcats.