The Save–On–Foods Oceanside Generals will look to right the ship after three losses this past weekend.
Wednesday night saw the Generals take on the Westshore Wolves (score not available at press time), who the Gens beat for their first win of the season a little over a week ago.
With their next game coming on Sunday, at home against the Peninsula Panthers, the Generals will get in some practice time to fine tune their game and prepare for what the team is hoping will be a “white out” on Sunday afternoon.
“It should be a lot of fun, for sure,” head coach Jason Johns said. “The fans have been great for us so far this year and hopefully that will continue on through this weekend. It’s a great opportunity to not only have some fun as a community but to support the local food bank as well, bringing in those non–perishable food items for donation. It’s a great cause and it should be a great afternoon on Sunday.”
After a weekend in which the Generals lost three straight games, the team improved steadily with each passing game, ending with an excellent effort against the Kerry Park Islanders on Sunday.
“We’re not happy with the losses, of course, but were happy with the games we played on Saturday and Sunday,” Johns said.
“We played with desire, heart, togetherness. We competed and battled and the guys showed a lot of respect for the sweater they had on out there. We played our best sixty–minute effort on Sunday and if we can continue to put the pieces together, it’s going to turn around sooner than later.”
Noticing a big difference between the way things were last season after some tough losses compared to early this season, defenseman Chandler Bruyckere has nothing but praise for his team at this point in the year.
“Big difference, for sure,” Bruyckere said. “Last year, when it came to games like we had against Campbell River, the morale wasn’t great heading in to the next game. These guys have a will to win, they want to win. It’s a lot different than it was last year and it showed after that blowout in Campbell River.”
“We showed up to play the next day because everyone in the locker room wanted to work hard and win and you can’t ask for much more than that.”
Sunday’s game starts at 2:30 p.m. and will see the Generals take on the Peninsula Panthers, who have yet to win a game this season. Newly named alternate captain P.J. Heger knows it won’t be easy.
“We can’t look at that game any different,” Heger said. “We need to just keep it simple, put the puck on net and try to stay out of the box. I think that five on five, we can play with anyone in the league. If we keep working hard like we have and stay disciplined, we should be able to come away with a win.”