It was the Liam and Liam show at the Sleeman Centre Friday night as the Guelph Storm opened its season with a 5-1 win over the Saginaw Spirit.
New overage goaltender Liam Herbst made 35 saves and second year winger Liam Stevens scored twice to lead the way in front of a crowd of 4,121.
Last season it took Stevens 29 games before he scored his first two goals. This year it took 48 minutes.
“It took me until New Year’s to get my first goal last year,” Stevens said.
“I have a year’s experience now. Last year I was scared and I think I got away from the game that they drafted me for. I think I’m starting to get back to it”
The Storm employ a very up-tempo style of hockey this year, something Stevens said suits him.
“I think I’m a fast forward and I make decisions fast and I make decisions fast and that helps me on the ice, especially in this league, which is so fast,” Stevens said.
Guelph led early, with Matt Hotchkiss and Luke Burghardt providing all the offence they would eventually need by 8:27 of the opening period.
They led 4-0 after two.
Nate Schnarr had Guelph’s other goal, a shorthanded effort.
Herbst, a big, technical goalie who plays a composed game both physically and mentally, was rock solid.
“It’s a little better start than I had last year, when I let in the first goal of the OHL season nine seconds into the game,” Herbst said with a laugh.
“It’s exciting. I just went out there and tried to have some fun and trust my abilities.
“As a goalie it’s vital to understand your abilities to have success and I think I did a good job preparing for this game,” Herbst said.
Mike Davies was the only Saginaw player to solve him, 4:29 into the second period.
The Storm got a big penalty kill early in the third period when they killed off a high-sticking match penalty to Nick Deakin-Poot just before he fought Saginaw’s Chet Phillips.
Deakin-Poot faces an automatic two-game suspension plus a review by the OHL office.
Storm coach Jarrod Skalde was generally happy with the way his team moved the puck and the speed with which they played the game.
“There were a lot of correctable things out there but overall I was pleased with the effort and the way we played the game,” Skalde said, adding that Herbst did his job bailing out the team when it needed it early on.
“He’s just such a mature guy and a mature goalie. When we needed a save, he made it,” the coach said.
Cedric Ralph, Dmitri Samorukov and Ryan Merkley all had assists in the game, their first OHL points.
The same two teams go at it again Saturday night in Saginaw.
