The boys are back in town
Gens clinch pair of wins in home opening weekend
The Oshawa Generals welcomed back their captain and starting goaltender this weekend on their way to winning back-to-back games at the Generals Motors Centre. Above, Domenic Commisso goes airborne as he attempts to make a pass.
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
It was a big weekend for the Oshawa Generals in many ways as the team welcomed back their captain and starting goaltender from NHL camps, unveiled a new jumbotron inside the General Motors Centre and retired the jersey of former Gen Marc Savard. On top of all that, the team was able to earn a pair of wins, their first points this season, as they dropped Peterborough 4-1 in the home opener on Sept. 30 and the Windsor Spitfire 5-2 on Oct. 2
Kicking off their season at home on Sept. 30, the Generals opened their 80th year with the unveiling of the new jumbotron, to the delight of thousands of fans in attendance. The new $762,000 system, approved by the City of Oshawa in the spring, replaces the outdated videoboard that hung in the GM Centre since it opened in 2006.
The team would go on to defeat the Peterborough Petes 4-1 in the game, the first following the return of Anthony Cirelli and Jeremy Brodeur to the line-up.
After starting the season with three straight losses on the road, the Oshawa Generals bounced back in their first weekend on home ice for the 2016/2017 season as they defeated the Peterborough Petes 4-1 in the home opener on Sept. 30 followed by a 5-2 victory over by the Windsor Spitfires on Oct. 2. Above: Jack Studnicka battles for the puck behind the net against a pair of Windsor defenders.
Prior to Sunday’s match-up, a pre-game ceremony saw hoisting of former great Marc Savard’s No. 27 into the rafters.
Windsor would kick off the scoring early in the first period, but Jack Studnicka would find the back of the net with less than a minute to go, evening the score heading into the second period.
Oshawa would go on to score three unanswered goals. The first was from Anthony Cirelli to give Oshawa a 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission. Import Renars Krastenbergs would put the Generals up 3-1 before Cirelli would add his second of the game.
Windsor would attempt to make things interesting with a powerplay goal to make the score 4-2, but Cirelli, once again, would complete the hat trick and seal the deal as he put the puck in the open net.
For head coach Bob Jones, with the return of his full roster, things are starting to fall back into place, after the team kicked off the season with three straight losses on the road.
“We were out of sorts, we were out of synch,” he says. “We obviously didn’t have 11 or 12 guys away, but when you have five guys away or six guys away…they’re really keys guys to our team.”
He says he noticed an immediate difference upon the return of Cirelli and Brodeur. In Sunday’s win Brodeur made 17 saves, including a two-on-nothing, and a breakaway, both during Oshawa powerplays.
“They’re pretty impact players and it seemed to settle our team down immediately as soon as both those guys got in our dressing room,” he says.
Jones also noted he has seen improvements in his team throughout the five games of the season so far.
“Progressively, we have gotten better each game,” he says. “It’s a credit to our guys, they battled hard and they played the right way.”
The two victories pull Oshawa nearly back to the .500 range as they improve their record to 2-3-0-0.
Oshawa is back in action on the road on Oct. 7 when they take on the Erie Otters before returning home for their annual Thanksgiving matchup on Oct. 9 against the Barrie Colts. Puck drop is set for 1:05 p.m.