BY CHRIS UHLIG
Well hello my friends, how have you all been? It’s been a while since hockey grazed these pages last, but it finally returned to Hometown News and if the stars align, it will hopefully stay this way.
Where shall I begin? Slowly but surely the season enters its hot phase as the play-offs aren’t that far away anymore. I blame it on the storm that not more patrons watched the game at the arena last Friday night. But still, an attendance of only 262 people left a bit to be desired for a home game. Folks, you have to show more support, and by god, the boys could have needed it. The Renfrew Wolves came to town and ripped the flesh of the Bear in its own den. That being said, the Bears didn’t really play a convincing game, it often felt lackluster without much effort put in, even though they had considerably more shots on goal (37 in total compared to 29 for the Wolves). But let’s move on to the gritty details.
The game commenced 15 minutes late due to Renfrew’s bus having had some technical issues. The Bears got off to a rough start with Renfrew’s Noah Vom Scheidt sinking in the first puck barely 2:06 minutes into the game. Kai Billey followed suit at 13:22, bringing Renfrew to a comfortable 2-nothing lead. Smiths Falls on the other hand had no luck getting the puck past Renfrew’s goalie Nolan Lane, not even during a power play, despite outshooting the Wolves 15 to 9 in the first period, which certainly put a dent in the overall morale of the team.
The second period saw Renfrew continuing with yet another goal, this time by Ethan Smith at 6:14. Matthew Martin-Gaudreault, assisted by Hunter O’Brian finally got the first real break for the Bears with a goal at the 9:01 mark. Alec Hamady then sent his puck of love into the Wolves’s net at 13:20, assisted by Davis hails and Kyle Dagg. Had the Bears finally found back into the game? Austin Fellinger begged to differ and helped the Wolves to a power play goal at 15:27.
But the Bears weren’t done yet, at 4:26 into the third period Owen Watson diminished the Wolves’s lead, assisted by Trevor Faucher and Lucas Culhane. Shaymus Stevenson then levelled the scoreboard at 7:33, assisted by Davis hails. Sadly, the Bears efforts ended here full stop, the remainder of the period was dominated by the Wolves. Noah Vom Scheidt scored at 8:56, Jace Letourneau continued at 9:41, and Andrew Morton sunk in an shorthand goal at 14:32. Tempers finally boiled over in a large fight with a mere eight seconds left in the game. It had of course absolutely no real impact on the outcome anymore, but may have relieved the frustration of the boys a bit.
The final: a disappointing loss of 4 to7 for the Bears.
The Wolves’s Noah Vom Scheidt earned First Star for two goals, SF Bear’s Davis Hails Second Star for two assists, and Andrew Morton (Renfrew) Third Star for one goal and one assist.
The Bears sought redemption the following night at Renfrew’s Ma-Te-Way Activity Center, but in essence it became a repeat of Friday’s game. The Bears managed to even up late in the second period, right into the middle of the third period, but weren’t able to hold on at the end with the Wolves finishing the Bears 6 to 4. Smiths Falls now stands in the 5th spot with 41 points at 34 games played. See you all next Friday at the den, when the Bears welcome the Nepean Raiders.
