Watling helping make Hounds go
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When you realize they own the best points-producing percentage in the entire OHL -- .833 – you recognize something else about the 2013-2014 Soo Greyhounds.
Right now, this hockey club is a baffling pie, difficult to slice into measurable pieces.
In other words, you look at the individual players who make up this Soo squad and aren't immediately blown away.
There are nine first-year players and seven second-year men wearing the red and white.
Yet they own a sparkling record of 9-1-0-2.
But if you're looking for 9-1-0-2 talent on this team, it isn't quickly recognizable.
It's simply not easy to dissect this roster and find a proven, star-studded cast.
Sure there's Tolchinsky and McCann up front, and Nurse and Murray on the back end.
But there are a lot of other guys who just know how to play the game the right way.
For instance, overage left-winger Patrick Watling is typical of the players who're making the Hounds go.
Let's face it: These Hounds look good.
But who could have imagined they'd have this kind of start?
And I think it's safe to say that with this Greyhounds club, the whole appears to be greater than the sum of its parts.
That's a tribute to the coaching staff and players, because from what we've seen to date, this is a team in the truest sense of the word.
These guys are playing wonderful hockey together.
They're cohesive, resilient, hard-working and committed to operating on the same page.
Watling, a 20-year-old Sault native, is easily enjoying the best season of his three-year, OHL career.
The overage forward is more grit that glitter, more spunk than sparkle.
He works hard, does all the little things – how often have you seen him fall to the ice to block a shot? -- is consistently on the right side of his check and does whatever he can to frustrate the opposition's top scorers.
“I want to be a top penalty-killing guy and a player who can shut down the other team's top line,” said Watling, a six-foot, 178-pounder. “And I want to put up some numbers in the meantime.”
Which he is doing.
With two goals and nine assists in 12 starts, Watling is averaging nearly a point per game. A year ago with the Guelph Storm, he finished with 12 goals and 13 assists in 53 starts.
After being selected by the Storm in the 10th round of the 2009 draft, Watling, then a centre, began his first full OHL season in the fall of 2011.
He finished with six goals and 17 assists in 67 games.
As for shutting down the opponent's top line, Watling, most-often on a line with overage centre Tyler Gaudet, has been doing an outstanding job of just that.
“He's a real nice player for us,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe. “He's unselfish and his offensive game is underrated. He knows how to hang onto the puck.”
As for blocking shots, while we might feel like yelling “Ouch!” when we see him absorb the force of a blast from the point, Watling looks forward to the challenge of denying a scoring chance.
“The ones that really hurt are the ones that don't hit your pads,” he chuckled. “But the pain is part of the game.”
And part of his team's successful approach.
“They do so many of the little things for us, I think Watling and Gaudet are becoming the heartbeat of our team,” Keefe said.
Hmmm.
A 10th-round draft choice and a free agent as the club's heartbeat.
Welcome to the 2013-2014 Soo Greyhounds.
Right now, this hockey club is a baffling pie, difficult to slice into measurable pieces.
In other words, you look at the individual players who make up this Soo squad and aren't immediately blown away.
There are nine first-year players and seven second-year men wearing the red and white.
Yet they own a sparkling record of 9-1-0-2.
But if you're looking for 9-1-0-2 talent on this team, it isn't quickly recognizable.
It's simply not easy to dissect this roster and find a proven, star-studded cast.
Sure there's Tolchinsky and McCann up front, and Nurse and Murray on the back end.
But there are a lot of other guys who just know how to play the game the right way.
For instance, overage left-winger Patrick Watling is typical of the players who're making the Hounds go.
Let's face it: These Hounds look good.
But who could have imagined they'd have this kind of start?
And I think it's safe to say that with this Greyhounds club, the whole appears to be greater than the sum of its parts.
That's a tribute to the coaching staff and players, because from what we've seen to date, this is a team in the truest sense of the word.
These guys are playing wonderful hockey together.
They're cohesive, resilient, hard-working and committed to operating on the same page.
Watling, a 20-year-old Sault native, is easily enjoying the best season of his three-year, OHL career.
The overage forward is more grit that glitter, more spunk than sparkle.
He works hard, does all the little things – how often have you seen him fall to the ice to block a shot? -- is consistently on the right side of his check and does whatever he can to frustrate the opposition's top scorers.
“I want to be a top penalty-killing guy and a player who can shut down the other team's top line,” said Watling, a six-foot, 178-pounder. “And I want to put up some numbers in the meantime.”
Which he is doing.
With two goals and nine assists in 12 starts, Watling is averaging nearly a point per game. A year ago with the Guelph Storm, he finished with 12 goals and 13 assists in 53 starts.
After being selected by the Storm in the 10th round of the 2009 draft, Watling, then a centre, began his first full OHL season in the fall of 2011.
He finished with six goals and 17 assists in 67 games.
As for shutting down the opponent's top line, Watling, most-often on a line with overage centre Tyler Gaudet, has been doing an outstanding job of just that.
“He's a real nice player for us,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe. “He's unselfish and his offensive game is underrated. He knows how to hang onto the puck.”
As for blocking shots, while we might feel like yelling “Ouch!” when we see him absorb the force of a blast from the point, Watling looks forward to the challenge of denying a scoring chance.
“The ones that really hurt are the ones that don't hit your pads,” he chuckled. “But the pain is part of the game.”
And part of his team's successful approach.
“They do so many of the little things for us, I think Watling and Gaudet are becoming the heartbeat of our team,” Keefe said.
Hmmm.
A 10th-round draft choice and a free agent as the club's heartbeat.
Welcome to the 2013-2014 Soo Greyhounds.