Wooster Oilers look to make playoff run

  • By Brian Questel
  • March 22, 2010
  • 538
                        
The first-place Wooster Oilers are looking for another first this weekend – a step into the Northern Junior Hockey League’s championship weekend. The Oilers, who dominated the seven-team NJHL this season with a 38-5 record, opened the best-of-3 playoffs against Findlay (9-32) last week in a series that continued over the weekend. A win would propel them into the championship weekend and a round-robin setup where they would play the winner of the Jamestown (22-24)-Troy (26-12) playoff series and Quebec-based Team Ulysse. While the Oilers have been competitive in their short existence in Wooster, they took a major step up this season as their record shows. That improvement, said second-year coach Hart Duddy, was a combination of both talent and team play. “My first year we built around what we had,” said Duddy. “We added a couple pieces, but we built around what we had. This year, with help from (Alice Noble Ice Arena general manager) Gary Baldwin, we built from the back out starting at goaltender, a solid defense and guys who could put the puck in the net. “We could not have done it without Gary’s approval. With my connections in Canada, we brought down some studs from Canada, plus (the team) bought into the system. We’re very aggressive checking, we have an aggressive defense and we’ve scored over 300 goals … and have a 2-1 (goals to goals-against) advantage.” The biggest change is at keeper, where Duddy took a chance and replaced all the keepers from last season, bringing in Caissie Ryan (13-4), Chris Wobser (13-3) and Tim Gearhart (10-2). Right at the trading deadline, the Oilers obtained Russian-born Alexander Galaysha (2-1) for the playoff run. “The year before the total of all three of our goalies was 4.6 (goals-against),” said Duddy. “That means you have to score five goals to be even. This year the average was 2.6, which means you still have to score three goals just to get even, but that is a lot better. “When we built the team from the back out, we rolled the dice with three new keepers, and then we added the last piece right before the trading deadline in getting Galaysha, who is 6-5 and played (for Russia) in the World junior Championships. He’s a big guy, but those other three guys got us here. They all got equal time and we used them equally. All three of them got us to this point.” What also got the Oilers to this point is the hard work that has gone into the season. “We’re the best conditioned team in the league, starting with two-a-days on the ice and then off the ice,” said Duddy. “We have memberships at HealthPoint and its mandatory they go. We have the legs to get back when we have to. “Once we create a turnover, we control the puck and get it to our forwards.” Once on top, the Oilers are potent. Brandon McPhail has 53 goals and 49 assists for a remarkable 102 points, but Scott Brown (39 goals, 56 assists) and Kevin Tejchma (34 goals, 59 assists) are both over the 90-point mark as well to give the Oilers the most explosive offense in the league. Should the Oilers advance to the finals, they will play the three-team round-robin beginning Friday at noon. Championship play will begin at noon on Saturday, March 27.


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