With its exhibition opener less than 24 hours away, the Soo Greyhounds roster is down to something more manageable following the annual Luke Williams Memorial Red And White Game on Friday night.
In what is traditionally the final chance for young players to impress, Greyhounds management continued to see good things from players that had solid camps up to that point, including the likes of Zack Trott and Brett Jacklin.
“He was great tonight,” Greyhounds General Manager Kyle Raftis said of Trott. “The puck followed him around. He got a little stronger over the summer which has really helped him along the walls. He had a great week.”
“Jacklin had a good night,” Raftis also said. “He showed off his release with a shot in stride. He’s a big body and skates well. He put a lot of work in this summer.”
With both players among the 25-man roster, Raftis would say that “they put themselves in that position with great summers.”
Veterans Barrett Hayton and Mac Hollowell didn’t play in Friday’s game and will not play this weekend in exhibition action. Hollowell is recovering from a suffered a broken left fibula during the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie camp during the summer. Hayton is suffering from a lower body injury which the team said was not serious.
The team released 17 players from camp following the game.
Among the cuts were goaltenders Adriano Mamone and Ethan Taylor; defencemen Brayden Crowe, Kobe Seguin, Zach Taylor, Owen Scott and Isaiah Payne; and forwards Alex Johnston, Noah Boman, Ryan Naumovski, Zach Nazzarrett, Theo Todd, Ryan Brown, Mason Dreger, Wesley Weir, Jacob Kelly and Caleb Wood.
The Greyhounds open exhibition action on Saturday night in Saginaw against the Spirit before the two teams wrap up the home-and-home series on Sunday afternoon in a 4:07 p.m. puck drop at the Essar Centre.
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AROUND THE OHL
Exhibition action officially opened around the OHL on Friday with seven games, including three at the league’s pre-season showcase in Buffalo, NY.
In Buffalo, Igor Larionov’s goal at 1:45 of the third period was the game-winner as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Flint Firebirds 4-3. Chris Playfair chipped in with two goals and an assist for Windsor while Joseph Mizzi also had three points with a goal and two assists. Spitfires goaltender Brock Baier stopped 37 shots. Kyle Harris, Ty Dellandrea and Hunter Holmes scored for Flint.
In Buffalo, Brett McKenzie had the shootout winner as the North Bay Battalion beat the Kitchener Rangers 4-3. Justin Brazeau, Andy Baker and Luke Moncada scored in regulation time for the Battalion. Connor Bunnaman had a pair of goals for the Rangers. Greg Meireles also scored for Kitchener. Luke Richardson made 39 saves for the Rangers.
In Buffalo, the Erie Otters scored three unanswered goals to beat the Peterborough Petes 4-1. Mitchell Mendonca, Cade Robinson, Patrick Fellows and Josh Wainman scored for Erie. Nick Isaacson had the lone goal for the Petes. Peterborough goaltender Hunter Jones stopped 33 shots.
In Ancaster, Ben Garagan had a goal and an assist as the Hamilton Bulldogs beat the Guelph Storm 4-2. Marian Studenic, MacKenzie Entwistle and Connor McMichael also scored for the Bulldogs. Barret Kirwin and Tag Bertuzzi scored for Guelph.
In Kingston, the Kingston Frontenacs picked up a 4-3 shootout win over the Oshawa Generals. Ryan Cranford had a goal and an assist for Kingston. Justin Pringle and Jason Robertson also scored for Kingston. Renars Krastenbergs scored a pair of goals for Oshawa. Robbie Burt also scored while Jack Studnicka assisted on a pair of goals for the Generals.
In Thorold, David Ovsjannikov and Kai Edmonds combined for the shutout as the Barrie Colts blanked the Niagara IceDogs 3-0. Jason Willms, Aidan Brown and Ryan Suzuki scored for the Colts.
In London, Richard Whittaker and Victor Mete had a goal and an assist each as the London Knights beat the Sarnia Sting 7-4. Jesper Bratt, Liam Foudy, Andrew Perrott, Nicolas Mattinen and Alex Formenton also scored for the Knights. Robert Thomas assisted on three London goals. Drake Rymsha had two goals and an assist for Sarnia. Jordan Ernst chipped in with a goal and an assist while Adam Ruzicka also scored for the Sting.