It was a tall task from the start, as the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks dropped both of their weekend games.
Facing off against the two teams who made the Ontario Elite Hockey League finals last season, and missing numerous key players, the Winterhawks dropped 4-2 and 6-2 decisions to the Tavistock Royals and Minto 81’s, respectively.
Winterhawks captain Miles MacLean, currently out due to injury, dressed for the warmup and took part in the ceremonial face-off.
The Winterhawks knew they would have to battle for everything they got against the finalist Royals, who dressed their full lineup for the first time this season.
The game opened well for the Winterhawks, who largely controlled the play and held the Royals to outside chances throughout the opening frame, and only the play of Winterhawks goalie Eric Peicheff and Tavistock goalie Graeme Noye kept the 0-0 tie heading to the second period.
Brent MacDermid got the Winterhawks on the board a minute into the second, getting in on the Tavistock net and doing what he does best – scoring to give the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead, from Chad Jones and Josh Urbshott less than a minute into the period.
The Winterhawks had a chance to extend the lead minutes later when the Royals were called for a penalty, but it was Tavistock who struck, as John McDonald snuck a shot from the corner over the glove of Peicheff for the shorthanded marker to make it 1-1.
Tavistock took the lead three minutes later when speedy Trevor Sauder got in alone on Peicheff and put a deke on the Winterhawks netminder to give the Royals a 2-1 lead.
The Royals put it away early in the third with two goals just under two minutes apart to make it 4-1.
Trent Hawke scored late in the game from Justin Donnelly and Andy Mitchell to make it a more respectable 4-2 final score.
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On Saturday night, the task became more daunting, as the Winterhawks took a Voyago Road Trip to Palmerston to face the defending champion Minto 81’s.
Missing a few more players from the night prior, there was at least some good lineup news as former captain Trevor Smith returned, along with ex-NHLer Theo Peckham.
The Winterhawks were again going to have to grind for everything they could get, and again, things started well as Clayton Fritsch looked sharp early on against the home Minto team.
Taking a 0-0 tie to the second period, Minto finally broke through on a goal at 6:49 of the second to take a 1-0 lead.
After no minor penalties in the first, the officials took over in the second and both teams got plenty of special teams reps after eight penalties, including a double-minor, were called in the second, but no other offence was put on the board in a solid goaltending battle.
The dam broke with yet another poor start to the third period, as Minto scored twice a minute and a half span to take a 3-0 lead.
The Winterhawks didn’t fold up shop, getting on the board with a power play goal from MacDermid at 6:36, from Mitchell and Peckham to cut the home lead to 3-1.
The momentum was extremely short-lived as Minto returned the volley just 18-seconds later to make it a 4-1 game.
A Mike Fiegehen power play goal came sandwiched between two Minto empty netters to make the final score look more lopsided than it was, with the 81’s picking up the 6-2 win.
Urbshott and Peckham assisted on Fiegehen’s goal.
The Winterhawks will get a much-needed weekend off as they look to keep healing up some injuries as they try to get their season back on track with their next game on Friday November 22nd, when the Seaforth Centenaires visit The Plex at 8:30 p.m. Game sponsor is Allenford Auto Service.
