The Huntsville Otters played their final two regular season games at home last weekend to wrap up what has definitely been an action-packed season for our hometown team.
On Friday, January 27, the Otters met the Caledon Goldenhawks at the Don Lough Arena. The stands were filled with regular Otters fans but this game also welcomed sixteen newcomers in the stands all the way from Beijing, China who were staying at Camp Tawingo and ventured out to see the Otters in action.
The team was quick off the bench to take control of the puck. After just three minutes, #29 Bobby Logan set himself up right in front of the net to score the first goal of the night, assisted by #9 Josh Zantingh and #15 Jake McIntyre.
The Otters held strong with their defense to protect their end but at 10:39 the Golden Hawks passed the puck between the Otters players and took a shot to tie up the game 1-1. Two minutes later, one of Caledon’s forwards led the puck into the Otters’ end and took a slap shot right into the upper right hand corner of the net. But Caledon wouldn’t stop there. At the eight-minute mark, the Golden Hawks passed the puck around Otters defense to their forward on the breakaway who charged Otter goalie #31 Mitchell Jones to score, taking the lead 1-3.
Otters goalie #31 Mitchell Jones defends the net
Tempers started to flare on the Otters team, earning them the first penalty of the night by #23 Matt Smith for Interference at the end of the first period.
Otters fans cheered the team out on to the ice entering the second period. They played hard with many attempts on net but Caledon managed to fast track the puck up from the blue line and score once again. It was hard skating until halfway through the period, and a small confrontation in front of the Caledon net earned the Otters another penalty for #10 Cody Jones as well as one for Caledon for roughing.
The Otters kept fighting to control the puck as they rushed the Caledon net to score at 8:24 by #19 Nathan Delarosbil and assisted by #21 Tyler Brown bringing the score to 2-4. As the crowd cheered, the Otters skated faster but #11 was given a penalty for tripping at 7:49 which made it four on five for Caledon allowing them to increase their lead to 2-5.
In the final minute of play in the second period, Caledon earned a penalty for hooking and another at the buzzer for roughing, giving the power play back to the Otters at the start if the third period. With two Golden Hawks in the penalty box, the Otters used the power play to their advantage and hard pressed Caledon’s defense to score within the first two minutes of play. Goal by #15 Jake McIntyre, assisted by #9 Josh Zantingh and #19 Nathan Delarosbil.
Feeling their team groove, the Otters worked together and #9 Josh Zantingh took a breakaway to score again. Goal assisted by #24 Jack Armstrong and #15 Jake McIntyre. The crowd rose to their feet knowing that the Otters were gaining goals with plenty of game left.
Caledon was shaken by the Otters comeback and landed a head shot to #10 Cody Jones directly into the boards with no penalty. Otter #23 Matt Smith had had enough and fought the Caledon player until the refs had to split them up and kick them out.
The game was intense as the Otters earned two additional penalties and Caledon one until the last minute of the game. The Otters goalie was pulled with 1:24 remaining to have six Otters battling for the puck. Timeout was called by Otters coach Rocky Clarke to set the stage to score. With 10.6 seconds left, the Otters fought to score and scrimmaged in front of the Caledon net thinking the puck went in but the ref called it “no call”. It was a tough loss at 4-5 but an excellent come back, Otters!
On Sunday, January 29, the Otters welcomed fans to the last home game of the season with special events added in for entertainment. It started off with an Otters open house from 12:30-1:30 and then the Timbits event during the first intermission and many special giveaways.
The Otters faced off against the Stayner Siskins who led the first period by scoring two goals before Otters #19 Nathan Delarosbil scored leaving the first period with 1-2 on the score board. Goal for goal happened again in the second period with Stayner scoring and then Huntsville #15 Jake McIntyre closing the gap by one goal 2-3. In the third period the Otters held their own for half of the period but Stayner snuck in another goal doubling their lead 2-4 and taking the win.
The Otters would like to thank all of their awesome, dedicated fans who have come out to support them and to cheer them on throughout the 2016-17 season. They’ll face off against Midland in the first round of the playoffs.
Did you know? Here are some milestone moments in Otter nation:
- Your team captain #15 Jake McIntyre has led the team for three years and hasn’t missed a game in the last four years!
- #26 Kyle Burns has played a whopping 200 games with the Otters.
- The players that have played over 100 games are #23 Matt Smith, #9 Josh Zantingh, #21 Tyler Brown and #29 Bobby Logan.
- #18 Jared Stevens, #8 Jesse Houlton, #13 Chris Goodfellow and #11 Dalton McEachran all have 75 games under their skate.
Congrats, Otters – see you in the playoffs!
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