No rest for the wicked as Greyhounds head into final round

The feeling is that they’re a better team for having gone through it.

As the opening game of the Ontario Hockey League final approaches, the Soo Greyhounds enter the series against the Hamilton Bulldogs having played 14 games in 26 days.

The team enters the league final on the heels of a dramatic double overtime victory on Monday night in game 7 of the OHL’s Western Conference final against the Kitchener Rangers.

“It’s been a really tough road against some extremely tough hockey teams that have pushed us really hard in Owen Sound and Kitchener,” Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister said.

Bannister said the Greyhounds learned from going through the emotional high of a seventh game win over Owen Sound in the second round will aid the team after Monday’s victory over the Rangers.

“There’s certainly an emotional high when you go through what we did,” Bannister said. “We knew there would be some down time and we learned from that.

“You have to reset your mind and get yourself in the right place,” Bannister added. “At this time of the year, everybody is banged up. It is what it is. You don’t get to this part of the season without ultimate sacrifice from your players. It’s part of playing hockey in May.”

Bannister would also say that two seven-game series could be of help for the Greyhounds.

“In a perfect world you wouldn’t want to have to go through that,” Bannister said, “but we’ve learned a lot from it.”

The Bulldogs enter the series on the heels of a five-game series win over the Kingston Frontenacs in the Eastern Conference final.

The Bulldogs have played 15 playoff games and have been off since their game five victory over Kingston on Apr. 26.

“We were fortunate to have a couple of days where we could mentally and physically decompress,” Gruden said. “We know how difficult this series is going to be. The Kingston series was a lot closer. We were tested with some adversity within and our guys found ways to win. That’s been our M.O. all season long.”

Gruden said that despite having the time off to rest heading into Thursday’s opener, the team doesn’t have an edge going into the game.

“We’ve been fortunate to have those days off between each series,” Gruden said. “It can work two different ways. By no means do we think the Sault is not going to be ready to play because of their quick turnaround.”

After Thursday’s series opener, game two is Saturday night, also at the Essar Centre. Puck drop for both games is set for 7:07 p.m. The series then shifts to Hamilton for games three and four on Monday and Wednesday of next week.