By Eliza Nwaesei
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey dominated the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks and won 8-2 in a chippy game at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Saturday evening.
The Bold captured their seventh win in a row, keeping things rolling and taking hold of the highest win percentage in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West division at 64.6 per cent. After cutting it close in a shootout win over the York Lions on Friday, the Bold shook off all the remaining cobwebs from the rest week by triumphantly grounding the Golden Hawks.
“Yesterday there was definitely some rust and we didn’t play our best,” said fourth-year Bold forward and captain Chris Playfair. “We knew we needed to be better today and we set the pace pretty early and came out flying.”
Laurier started on a positive note with a face-off win, sending third-year Golden Hawks right wing Max-Antoine Melancon down the ice for a shot into the glove of third-year Bold goalie Ryan Dugas.
The Golden Hawks appeared to strike gold with the game’s first shot, but it proved to be fool’s gold. Momentum quickly shifted and they struggled to regain their footing for the rest of the game.
“They’ve got a really good team, they’ve got a lot of really good players and it just hasn’t gone their way this year,” said Bold head coach Johnny Duco of the Golden Hawks.
With TMU setting up the plays, the Golden Hawks couldn’t hold the Bold in their talons—the home side scored their first goal three minutes into the game. Fourth-year forward Aleks Dimovski passed the puck from the slot to fourth-year forward Jackson Doherty who sent a powerful wrist shot to the back of the net.
Before Laurier could get their bearings, second-year Bold forward Daniil Grigorev scored his first goal of the game 20 seconds after Doherty’s. By waiting in the face-off circle unchallenged by Laurier he accepted a pass from fourth-year forward Kevin Gursoy, walked in and found the top right corner of the net scoring.
The dynamic duo of Gursoy and Grigorev continued to prey on the Golden Hawks. A backhanded pass to the slot from Gursoy found Grigorev, who has shown a knack for being at the right place at the right time. With a one-timer he buried it, gaining his second goal of the game.
“I have a pretty good connection with Playfair and Gursoy,” said Grigorev, happy to give credit where credit is due.
The game’s gritty atmosphere came to life when third-year forward Ian Martin was checked into the boards by second-year defenceman Callum Chisholm, triggering a brawl. The scrap ended with roughing penalties for both Laurier and the Bold, opening up the ice for 4-on-4 action.
Down three goals, Laurier fought back. They got on the board shortly after the end of a power play as second-year left wing Samuel Williamson maneuvered around TMU’s defence, finding a gap to score.
In response, third-year Bold forward Will Portokalis got TMU their fourth goal of the period. The goal forced Laurier to swap tactics, starting with changing second-year goalie Ventsislav Shingarov for first-year goalie Paris O’Brien in order to put a stop to the onslaught of goals.
The Bold also put on the pressure defensively with tactful hits denying the Golden Hawks their airspace for the rest of the period.
“We want to play physical, we want to be a hard team to play against,” said Duco. “We obviously want to toe that line and we want to be disciplined and we don’t want to put our team down.”
Two minutes into the second period, first-year Bold forward Spencer Shugrue took a shot on net that bounced off O’Brien’s pads into the net. From here, the Bold took over as the Golden Hawks tried to turn the game into a rugby match. With the aggression in the game bubbling, both teams push forward getting physical in their defensive styles.
About halfway through the middle frame, Grigorev took a pass from Playfair, skating down the ice alongside Gursoy and setting up for a wide-open two-on-one. Grigorev netted the hat trick with a short-side snipe.
“He’s sick,” said Duco of the Russian forward. “We see it every day in practice. He is a heck of a player, he’s got pinpoint accuracy, he works his game tremendously at all times. He never stops working so to see him be rewarded is great.”
At the other end, Laurier had golden scoring opportunities turned aside by not only Dugas but the defenders in front of him. Third-year defenceman Jaden Condotta putting his body in front of two shots in a single shift, adding a stop-gap alongside the Golden Hawks’ failed tape-to-tape connections and several misfortunate turnovers.
In the second half of the period, tensions rose as first-year Bold forward Jordan D’Intino and first-year Golden Hawks right wing Tyler Hunt received double minor penalties for roughing. Despite the Golden Hawks physical intensity, the Bold gave them no opportunity to change the score.
The third period started off slow but despite being down five goals, the Golden Hawks weren’t ready to fly south just yet. Their efforts mostly contributed to frustration and aggression brimming over.
Playfair got into a scuffle with second-year Golden Hawks defenceman Dylan Di Tomaso before first-year Golden Hawks forward Mathieu Paquin jumped into the chaos, resulting in roughing penalties for all three and a ten-minute misconduct for Paquin.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to protect ourselves and you know, it’s a bit of a classless team over there,” said Playfair. “We held our own and you gotta do what you gotta do, but at the end of the day you stay as disciplined as you can and make sure that your teammates aren’t getting hurt.”
A short time later, the Golden Hawks notched their second goal of the game with a top-shelf snipe shot from second-year right wing Bryce Sutherland.
The game heated up as the intensity rose, with a high point coming as second-year defender Jaden Raad went down with an injury at centre ice. Fourth-year Bold defender Joe Rupoli took exception to the play and got into a scrap with fourth-year forward Tyler Davis, resulting in each being handed two major penalties for fighting. However, TMU managed to maintain their composure and capitalized on the opportunity. They scored two more goals—one shorthanded and one on the power play—as they extended their lead into untouchable territory, ultimately clipping the Golden Hawks wings.
The game ended with shots on goal at 43-21 in TMU’s favour.
“I was really proud of the way the guys came out and brought their effort like they did yesterday, but executed at a much higher level,” said Duco. “When we play like that and we bring our effort and our execution, we are a really good hockey team and we’ll be tough to beat.”
UP NEXT: The Bold will face the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, who sit first in the OUA West division standings at Varsity Arena on Feb. 6. Puck-drop is set at 11 a.m.
Leave a Reply