Guelph Storm coach Chad Wiseman not only thinks his team is better than it was at the start of the season, he thinks it's better than it was two weeks ago.
Hard to argue, as the Storm entered the Christmas break with a 3-2 shootout win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Saturday afternoon at the Sleeman Centre.
The Hounds came into the game riding a six-game win streak. The Storm have won three in a row.
Guelph, 19-12-1-1 at the break, will sit in anywhere from third place to fifth place depending on what Saginaw and London, the two teams one point behind them in the standings, do in their lone games this weekend.
"We're happy with our progress. We have a process here and we believe we've made huge strides in that process," Storm coach Chad Wiseman said.
"We believe we're in a good spot going into the second half, but we all know it gets harder the second half of the season."
Wiseman said the team is doing a much better job of managing the puck in the offensive zone, the detail and habits are both better.
"We're trending in the right direction."
Storm goaltender Brayden Gillespie, who bounced back with a solid effort after allowing five the night before, said the Storm can play with anyone in the league.
"I think we're an amazing hockey team. We compete every night and i think we do everything right and it's coming. It's showing we can compete with the best teams in the league on any given night," Gillespie said.
The Storm netminder was pretty thrilled to get the big win Saturday rather than head in to the break on a low note.
"That would have been terrible. You would have just been sitting there sulking in your bed thinking 'we could have got those wins', but it's nice to go out with three wins. It's all good."
Wil McFadden scored the decisive goal in the shootout, roofing one in tight over Landon Miller's outstretched pad, while Brayden Gillespie stopped two of three Soo shooters.
Michael Buchinger also scored in the shootout for Guelph.
Buchinger also had Guelph's first goal in regulation. Jake Karabela had Guelph's other goal, tying things 2-2 with a power play goal early in the third.
Waterloo native Brady Martin, with a big group of family and friends on hand in a private suite, and Marco Mignosa had he Hounds goals.
"It's a tough team to play. That team's a good hockey team that's won nine out of its last 10 and even though they're travelling they come at you with a lot of speed and tenacity and they manage the puck well," WIseman said.
"We weathered the storm at a few different times in the game ... and I thought BG (Gillespie) had a good comeback game from (Friday)."
Guelph played half the game without captain Brayden Bowman, who received a five-minute boarding major and game misconduct in the second period. That also gets an automatic review by the league.
The Storm returns to action after the break Dec. 28 at home against the Erie Otters.
