The Listowel Cyclones and Elmira Sugar Kings engaged in another Battle of 86 Friday night, with the game taking a slight backseat to an important local initiative.
The Cyclones hosted their second annual Get In Touch for Hutch night at the Steve Kerr Memorial, to help support and spread awareness around mental health and suicide prevention. The game was preceded by a ceremonial puck drop done by Myrna and Stu Hutchison, who founded the organization after losing their son Steven to suicide at just 19 years of age in 2013. Get In Touch for Hutch had an information booth set up in the concourse with great resources to direct people to mental health agencies in the community, as well as tips on how to manage your own personal mental health. For more on Get In Touch for Hutch, and their relationship with the Cylones, click here for our earlier story:
https://blackburnnews.com/midwestern-ontario/2020/01/23/listowel-cyclones-host-get-touch-hutch-night-mental-health-awareness/
In terms of the game action, Elmira’s ferocious forecheck was an issue for the Cycs early on, and Jeremy Goodwin made good on a brilliant pass that split the defense as he walked right down main street to tuck the puck through a helpless Evan Morrison’s legs not 5 minutes in. Then with just over 7 minutes left, Brody Waters roofed a rebound into the far corner off a turnover created down low in the Listowel end to stretch the lead to 2-0. Just minutes later, Listowel would earn the first man advantage of the night. Elmira did a good job boxing out the Cycs, though, so the power play was to no avail. A very physical first came to an end with the Cyclones trailing 2-0, and down 9-2 in shots.
The second period began as the first ended; hard hitting and mean. Elmira got the lead to 3-0 just 40 seconds in as Jacob Black snuck one through Morrison, and then Kurtis Goodwin was hobbled by a huge hit early, and the two teams continued to trade blows. Just over 5 minutes in, Listowel too a goalie interference call, giving Elmira their first shot at a PP. The Cycs held them off, but got into penalty trouble again with just over 8 minutes left for a questionable cross check, but Listowel survived. With just under 4 minutes left, Elmira’s Jeremy Goodwin took an awful penalty as he smashed Carter McIlwain from behind, somehow only escaping with a 2 minute minor and a game misconduct. However, Listowel again couldn’t convert. With just 12 seconds left, Elmira made it 4-0 on a gorgeous individual effort from Cooper Way, as he sniped one short side as he was being brought down. Listowel earned another power play right at the death, but the period ended 4-0 Elmira, with a wide gulf in shots as the Sugar Kings led 21-9.
The Cycs carried the PP into the third, and finally broke through as Brendan Koops shredded a big slapper blocker side past Sugar Kings goalie Greg Brassard. However, the comeback effort was killed after a bad turnover in the Listowel zone fell right to Hunter Dubecki in the low slot, and he slid it past a helpless Morrison, who got the rest of the night off after the score line hit 5-1. Listowel wouldn’t quit though, as Stevie Grant turned on the afterburners to blow by the Elmira defense and snipe one high short side with just over 13 minutes left. Right after that, Elmira was penalized for a trip in the neutral zone, giving Listowel a big opportunity. But the Cycs couldn’t get it done, and then took a penalty themselves after a whistle with 13 seconds left on their man advantage. It immediately got worse, as Listowel was called for a boarding penalty, which carried a 10-minute misconduct, and they received an unsportsmanlike to boot. Elmira would make it count, as Jcob Black scored on the 5-on-3 past Cycs backup Dixon Grimes to make it 6-2. Listowel again answered with just under 7 minutes left as Trent Verbeek smashed a rebound past Brassard. Listowel kept pressing, earning a PP off a trip with just 3:37 on the clock. The Cycs elected to take a timeout and pull Grimes for a 6-on-4, but they couldn’t get another.
The game finally came to an end 6-3 for Elmira after an extremely testy contest that saw ejections, misconducts and bad calls and non-calls galore. Elmira outshot the Cyclones 31-18 en route to another win keeping them firmly in first place in the Midwestern Conference. Listowel are on the road tomorrow night in Brantford at 7, while Elmira will travel to Waterloo for 1:30 on Sunday.