Egan, Vikings learn from tough weekend

If there’s one thing Addax Egan and the Vincent Massey Vikings learned this past weekend, it’s the teams in the Winnipeg High School Hockey League are as advertised.

Egan and his Vikings got to experience a whole new level of intensity at the Steinbach Regional Sabres Hockey Invitational tournament, as the Westman High School Hockey League’s sole undefeated team (5-0) managed to squeak out just one win in five contests.

“Those teams were very fast,” Massey’s co-captain said. “They put shots on net from just about everywhere, and they were quick teams in every zone of the ice. We kept up with them for a bit, but the shots that they put on, we just couldn’t stop all the 50 shots that they were putting up, so those were hard ones. We know we can definitely be better all around in every aspect of the game.”

The Vikings got off to a nice start in round-robin play, pulling out a 3-2 win over St. Thomas Aquinas following a comeback in the final frame, but that was the most success they would find for the remainder of the tournament after falling 5-2 to Steinbach, 8-0 against Springfield, tying Fort Frances 1-1 and then losing to it the following match by a 4-2 margin.

The results are certainly disappointing for Massey but also not surprising considering they didn’t generate nearly enough offence and also gave up too many quality chances, leaving goaltenders Madden Cheung and Hunter Gregory out to dry. And while the problems may seem alarming, the encouraging factor is most of the team’s shortcomings were by their own doing, so Egan believes it shouldn’t be too difficult to fix.

“It was clear lots of their offence was coming off our own personal mistakes,” he said. “When we should have been getting the puck out and breaking it out, we’d struggle with that, and that was just a problem. I felt like we had quite a bit throughout the weekend where unnecessary errors in our end caused lots of shots against us and on offence as well, just not getting shots on goal.

“We just need to shoot the puck more, and I think that’s something we’re going to work big on, and our D-zone as well we’ve gotta tighten up, and that’ll really help our team in the long run.”

After their disastrous performance against Springfield, Massey started to pick up the pace a little more and slowly get back to their identity, which is a fast, hard-to-play-against group that has all four lines looking the same with an aggressive and established forecheck and a strong backcheck. These are the qualities that helped them to a 32-0 record in the WHSHL regular season last year before they eventually captured the league title.

The proof is in the pudding, and that’s what Egan’s been trying to preach to his team, especially the younger guys in the locker room who have less experience of what it takes to win.

“The speed and pace we played with last year, nobody could keep up. I’ve made that pretty clear to the guys that that’s what it’s going to take if they want it this year and if they want to win the championship. That’s the type of stuff it’s going to take, and I think they’re starting to understand that,” said Egan.

“I think from coming off of our season last year, there’s definitely pressure on the guys… Everyone’s thinking, ‘Oh, like, do people think we’re going 28-0 this year?’ I think it’d be unreal if we could, but it’d be a very hard challenge, and I think everyone knows if that’s the goal again, they’ve got to have their best effort every game and win every puck battle that they get into.”

And nobody practises what they preach more than Egan, who will undoubtedly always be in the thick of a battle, be it in the corner or in front of the net, he’s ready to go to war.

Like the Tkachuk brothers in the NHL, he plays with an edge and enjoys playing a physical brand of hockey — which is why there’s never a shift where you won’t see him laying down the body and finishing his checks, doing whatever he can to retrieve the puck back for his team. And with all that, he still produces at a high level.

Through five WHSHL games, Egan already has eight goals and 13 points, which is tied for the team lead alongside his lineman, Daylan Duncalfe. Last year, he posted 25 goals and 52 points in 45 games, which outstandingly tripled his seven goals and 16 points recorded during his freshman season.

He’s the total package on the ice, and he also leads by example off it, which is why he has the voice he does in that Vikings locker room.

His message to his teammates following this weekend’s outing is not to dwell on what was, but to look forward to what could be. He admitted it would have been nicer to perform better in Steinbach but said the opportunity to play the cream of the crop clubs in Manitoba’s high school hockey system will prove to be an advantage as the season goes on.

“Playing those teams from Winnipeg, we don’t see teams like that really in our league or the kind of physicality that those teams have, so it’s different for the younger guys,” Egan said. “They haven’t really seen that ever, it’s a whole different game, but it’s great experience.”

Massey will have a great chance to right some of their wrongs this weekend in what will be a few tough tests against the Virden Golden Bears (5-2) and Dauphin Clippers (6-2), who are both right at the top of the standings with them.

“It’s going to be a tough weekend, some tight matchups for sure, but hopefully we can come out on top.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com