Johansen, Crocus motivated to stay in win column this weekend

Cody Johansen recalls the scenes at Enns Brothers Arena last week quite vividly.

As the clock hit zeros and the final buzzer sounded, he and his teammates eyed their goaltender, Cody Johnson — who made 23 saves on 26 shots — and swarmed around him in a heartbeat, elated to celebrate a Crocus Plainsmen victory.

“It was a big moment,” said Johansen, a second-year defencemen. “Everybody had smiles on their faces, everybody was all happy, and it was just awesome.”

The club’s 7-3 victory over the Reston/Melita/Hartney/Souris Renegades (5-8-1) was just their second of the season in 13 contests, but nonetheless, a win is a win — and a win is a call for celebration, but now Johansen knows it’s time to move on and turn the page.

Thursday evening’s tilt against the Glenboro/Carberry/Baldur Wildcats (6-9), which ended after deadline marked a stretch of three games in four nights, and all on the road, with the Plainsmen traveling to Glenboro and then Sandy Bay for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop against the Badgers (4-7) on Saturday, followed by a meeting against the Major Pratt Trojans (8-4-1) in Russell on Sunday.

While Crocus has remained at the bottom of a 15-team race in the Westman High School Hockey League standings, they’ve shown time and time again the last thing they intend to do is wave the white towel and give up. Instead, they are galvanized to carry the momentum forward and prove their best is yet to come.

“These games are gonna be big games for us,” he said. “We need to start winning some more, so we just gotta forget about what happened before and the last play and focus on the next one.

it’s going to be really important.”

Johansen, 16, is one of four Crocus players to have a letter etched on his jersey as part of the leadership group, which has constantly preached to others in the locker room to have a memory like a goldfish when results aren’t exactly going the team’s way. It may be a saying that’s been beaten to death, but it’s an important approach the veterans have used to ensure everyone on the team stays positive and upbeat throughout long, winless stretches.

It’s a responsibility Johansen doesn’t take lightly.

“It’s pretty important because some people look up to me, and when you’re positive, then they’re going to be positive too, so I just try to lead by example,” Johansen said. “If one of us isn’t playing good or if they’re down, then the rest of the team’s just going to follow that.”

He’s also given his teammates reasons to follow on the ice, as Johansen is trending at a point-per-game pace thus far with four goals and 14 points in 13 games. His numbers are the third-highest on the team and the most among his entire defensive corps, and by a country mile, as the next highest point getter on the blue-line is Riley Dutchak with two assists. Johansen is on pace to surpass his totals from his freshman year, when he racked up 20 points in 40 games last season.

He believes a key reason for his more potent offensive production has been timing and shot selection.

“Last year, I had a lot of shots blocked into shin pads and stuff, and this year, not so much,” he said. “I’ve been getting them through, taking smarter shots and even passing, making smarter passes that are harder to read because I’m more of a playmaker, so I try and set teammates up for points and stuff.”

Johansen’s been able to put those improved skills to work on the man advantage, where he’s managed well quarterbacking the Plainsmen’s first unit.

A lot of his power play success has come from making the simple play and just getting pucks on net for potential tap-in rebounds in front of the blue paint or feeding it over to his two leading scorers, Destin Brown and Cale Calcut, who are tied with 24 points on the year and always pose a threat to score with their wicked releases.

At even strength, Johansen started the season alongside assistant captain Liam Bromley on the first pairing but now plays with Gradyn Ramage, another second-year defender.

Following this weekend, Crocus will continue their ventures on the road with a Saturday night pit stop in Dauphin to face the Clippers (7-5-1) before heading out to Minnedosa to meet the Chancellors (5-10).

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com