Defending Champs ‘Attack’ Western Conference
By Terry Doyle
The defending Ontario Hockey League Champions may have undergone changes this season, but are still making noise in the Western Conference.
The Owen Sound Attack are without their top seven scorers from last year but remain in the middle of the Western Conference standings heading into the final month of the regular season.
“We don’t have the tough strong team we did last year, losing a lot of players,” said sophomore forward Cameron Brace. “I feel like we’re good enough, we’re young, we have a lot of talent. If we just keep flying under the radar I know we could upset some teams in the playoffs hopefully, and we just need to keep working hard.”
Heading into this week’s action, earning nine-of-ten points in their last five games and in contention for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, it may be difficult for the Attack to fly under the radar much longer.
“Home ice is key, especially playing in our arena,” added Brace. “I feel our arena is a tougher arena to play in around the Ontario Hockey League – if we could get home ice that would be unbelievable.”
With 14 games remaining in the regular season, the Attack trail Sarnia by one point for the coveted fourth-seed in the Western Conference. But they will have to keep a close eye behind them as well. Saginaw is in hot pursuit and would also like to work their way into the battle for home-ice in the first round.
Brace’s desire to avoid the spotlight was not helped last Saturday when he recorded seven points, four goals and three assists, in a 12-0 win. The mark tied an Attack club record, and was a career-high for Brace.
“I don’t think I’ve even scored that many times in practice. It was fun and I was so happy.”
The seven-point performance had special meaning for Brace as it came during the Attack’s ‘Pink in the Rink’ cancer fundraising game. His mother, Teresa, is a breast cancer survivor and was in attendance for the evening.
“It was unbelievable, my mom came up because she had breast cancer and she just wanted to have a fun night,” explained the Markham native. “It was unbelievable, her being there and all the other cancer survivors and just playing for a good cause, it was a great feeling.”
“Our coach (Greg Ireland) told us before the game that a lot of teams…go into games like ‘Pink in the Rink’ and they don’t really know what it is about. He talked to us about it and it just opened a lot of eyes for a lot of players and just made the night so much better.”
Fans can purchase the jerseys worn during the game in an on-line auction, check it out at auction.staging.chl.ca.
