Sports
Sockeyes open season with dramatic win
By Don Fennell
Published 12:38 PDT, Fri September 8, 2017
Richmond Sockeyes opened their 2017-18
Pacific Junior Hockey League season in dramatic fashion Thursday at Minoru
Arena, staging a furious third-period comeback to edge the North Vancouver Wolf
Pack 6-5 in overtime.
Ironically, the Sockeyes had the NFL opener
between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs playing in their
dressing room prior to game time, and
were discussing the Patriots’ historic comeback against the Atlanta
Flacons in last year’s Super Bowl.
Despite dominating territorial play and
outshooting the Wolf Pack 44-19, the Sockeyes found themselves trailing their
game 5-2 after two periods. But instead of surrendering, the Sockeyes came out
for the third period determined. Captain Tyler Andrews, who scored twice in a
span of just over a minute midway through the frame, led the resurgence. He
also picked up two assists, setting up both of rookie Nicolas Bizzutto’s
game-tying and game-winning goals.
“Timing is everything,” a relieved head coach
Steve Robinson said of his first league victory. “If we had to sit on a 6-2
loss for seven days (Richmond isn’t scheduled to play again until Sept. 14) the
boys would have been pretty grumpy. Even though it’s only one game, it served
us well as a character builder yet was a good wake-up call as well. There’s a
lot of parity around the league,”
Robinson said the team’s final pre-season
wind-up—a trip to Princeton that included a pair of exhibition games against
the local junior team—accomplished his goals.
“I think it helped to galvanize us,” he said.
“We had three good days up there and I expect it to pay dividends well beyond
(the season opener).”
The Sockeyes will play host to the Port Moody
Panthers Sept. 14 at Minoru Arenas. Face-off is 7 p.m.
EYE BROWSE: Richmond started the season with
six anticipated starters out of the lineup. The Sockeyes then lost five players
to injuries during the game. While most of those injuries are anticipated to be
minor, Robinson said a knee injury to Ari Sky could be more serious. He said
the Sockeyes are fortunate to have great depth and has been selling that
message to the players.
“It’s going to take 25 guys to win a
championship,” he said. “You’re not going to win with only 20. Sometimes that
means sacrifices once in a while.”