By Patrick King, Sportsnet.ca
The Barrie Colts aren’t ready to play dead.
After losing players like Bryan Little, Hunter Tremblay and Richard Clune to junior graduation, many expected the Colts to lose their kick and begin rebuilding this season. But as head coach Marty Williamson said, the team has been able to feel a sense of satisfaction in proving the experts wrong.
“Everybody really expected us to fall off the map,” he said. “We’re definitely not as strong as we were last year but we’re finding different ways to win games.
“So far it’s been a satisfying season but we know the second half of the season is a lot tougher than the first half.”
Although the young Colts have surprised this season, it hasn’t gone without growing pains. Perhaps the biggest key to the team’s success has come in goal where 19-year-old starter Andrew Perugini is one of the league’s busiest goaltenders.
Since the Colts boast a young defensive core, Perugini often faces 40 or more shots per game and has remained consistent. In fact, the second-year starter’s 0.918 save percentage is fifth best in the league – a remarkable feat considering the barrage of shots he faces on a nightly basis.
“Andrew’s done a great job of keeping us in games and giving us a chance to win,” said Williamson, while noting Perugini’s veteran presence calms their young defencemen. “When we played our young kids they could make a few mistakes and Andrew would always pick them up.”
“You always want to stay positive, especially with younger guys who haven’t been at this level for very long,” Perugini added. “Goalies especially you don’t want to look like anything’s rattling you because the team kind of feeds off that so you just want to stay calm.”
Another key to success has been the play of overage forward Vladimir Nikiforov. The third-year forward, who was born in Lithuania but grew up on Long Island, New York, has taken his game to another level this season.
Nikiforov, who enjoyed a lot of success in his first two seasons in Barrie, trained hard last summer while rediscovering his passion for the game.
“Last year I wasn’t really committed I don’t think,” he said. “This year I’m much more committed and I really want to play at a higher level and I just matured a little bit.”
Part of the maturation process began when Nikiforov took a cue from last season’s teammate, Bryan Little, who has spent the majority of this season playing in the National Hockey League for the Atlanta Thrashers.
“I was pretty much like everyone else except guys like Little who really took it seriously,” he said. “You could just see he was the first one at the rink, first one on the ice and pretty much the last guy off the ice. He was just a guy that wanted to make it and it showed.
“I kind of found my love for the game and just love coming to the rink.”
And it certainly shows with his play on the ice. Nikiforov provides the Colts with plenty of offence while constantly playing against the league’s top defenders. In addition, he has had to play without line-mates Tomas Marcinko and Cory McGillis for half the season as both sustained injuries.
“He creates offence no matter who he’s on a line with,” Perugini said. “It definitely helps when you know you have a guy that’s going to put the puck in the net almost every game.”
Nikiforov and the Colts received some good news recently as McGillis is ready to return from injury. However, the team will remain without Marcinko who, despite recovering from a broken leg, will be away the next few weeks representing Slovakia at the world junior championships.
The Colts are looking forward to the second half of the season as they fell off the pace before the holiday break. Barrie is now tied for second in the Central Division after going winless in their last seven games before the break.
“The last couple of games we have just been struggling and our confidence went down,” Nikiforov said. “I think the second half will be a new start for all of us.”
“You need a mental break from the game,” said Perugini, who might have needed it most given his heavy workload. “I was watching the world juniors (this week) and watching it really just made me want to get back in the game.”
While the Colts shouldn’t be a surprise to the rest of the league any more, they will continue to relish the role of an overachieving team.
“Any time you’re in the underdog role it feels great when you overcome obstacles,” Perugini said.
And at the risk of beating a dead horse, the Barrie Colts can take pride in proving the experts wrong.
