Photo provided by Anna Taylor, Century 21 Lakers
With Eric Hainer’s number 16 hanging in their dressing room, the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers found their swagger during an 8-4 win over Brooklin on Wednesday night at Iroquois Park Sports Centre.
“I know he was on their minds here tonight,” said Lakers’ head coach Mike Hasen. “There was maybe a little extra energy because of the relationship some of them had with him. It’s been a tough couple of days.”
Hainer, member of the Kawartha Fury and younger brother of Jr. A Lakers alumnus Jackson Hainer, tragically passed away during a car accident on the weekend. Tributes have poured in from all over the province. Brooklin held a moment of silence prior to the game, and the Lakers fought hard to honour him with the win.
Rob Hellyer led the offence with six points and Drew Hutchison led the defence with 45 saves. It was the team’s best defensive effort and their lowest goals against of the season, a great effort after they fell 12-10 to Brooklin at the Memorial Centre last week.
“Hutch was really good,” praised Hasen. “Saved our ass on a couple of occasions and made the easy stops that we needed him to make as well. Defensively I thought we were really good in front of him.”
The only unfortunate moment for Hutchison came on Brooklin’s second goal, with 4:10 left in the first period. Chris Boushy’s shot went over the net, hit the boards, and bounced into the net off Hutchison’s back. It didn’t rattle him at all, even with the temperature soaring close to 40°C.
“It was pretty hot (in the arena), but we were able to get through the heat tonight,” Hutchison said. “The team played well, they were allowing shots that I wanted to see and you can’t really ask too much more out of them.
“Some of the young guys we had on D really stepped up. A lot of speed, a lot of energy. They’re having fun out there, they’re working hard. When you’re young, you’re going to make mistakes but when you’re working hard then you can recover. It’s good to see them playing as well as they have been.”
Frank Coyle made his season debut on defence, with Nick Crowley playing in his third game of the season. Hasen said the young defensemen pushed the veterans.
“The energy we had tonight was 60 minutes strong,” he said. “It was exactly where we wanted to be especially coming off of last week against the same team. We needed this one.”
The Lakers came out hot, with Hellyer and Mike Robinson scoring 27 and 37 seconds, respectively, into the game. Colton Armitage made it 3-0 with his first MSL goal, and Hellyer put Peterborough up 4-0 just over a minute later, chasing Brooklin starter Steve Orleman in favour of Aden Walsh.
The Lakers increased their lead to 5-2 with Robinson’s game winner in the second period. Will MacLeod replied for Brooklin.
Brad McCulley, and Hellyer with a crease dive, made it 7-4 early in the third. Landen Sinfield responded for Brooklin with his second goal of the game, but Armitage’s second iced it. The Lakers killed off two penalties in the third period, with Hutchison stopping three consecutive shots with Robert Hope directing the play from the penalty box.
(Article submitted by: Anna Taylor, Social Media Coordinator with the Century 21 Lakers)
