Heading into training camp it looked like Ryan McGuire might be the odd man out in the Guelph Storm's overage picture.
WIth four players vying for three spots on the bench, McGuire did what any athlete does in that situation: control what he can control. Namely, play his butt off.
For the third consecutive game to start the season, McGuire was the Storm's best forward Friday as the locals fell 4-2 at the Sleeman Centre.
It was Guelph's (2-1) first loss of the season and the Soo's (1-3) first win.
"I'm very happy with the way Ryan's been playing. He's been leading our team," said Storm coach Cory Stillman after Friday's loss.
"He works extremely hard. To me he's the driving force right now. The energy, the drive, the space he creates for guys on the ice. People know when he's on the ice," said Stillman, admitting he will have a "very difficult" decision to make on the overage situation if and when Budnick returns.
The situation may yet resolve itself. One of the four overagers, defenceman Tommy Budnick, is trying to make the ECHL's Adirondack Thunder. Their training camp opens Monday.
So right now it's McGuire, Jake Karabela and Max Namestnikov.
McGuire played a tonne in Friday's game, at even strength and killing penalties. His workload increased when Karabela left the game in the first injury with a mouth injury and didn't return.
"It was difficult. It was stressful," McGuire said of his mindset heading into training camp.
"I want to be here, I want to be in Guelph. So just play my hardest and show the new coaching staff what I have to offer."
He believes he's made an impression on them, which is all he can do.
"I'm still here," he said. "I can only control the controllable."
Friday's game was a disjointed affair, with few scoring chances for either team.
Sault Ste. Marie took advantage of a pair of Storm turnovers to score, including what proved to be the winning goal by Camerin Cardona at 7:16 of the third period, an odd-man rush created when a Storm defenceman tried to make a tough play at centre ice instead of dumping the puck in along the boards.
That made it a 3-1 game, but Parker Snelgrove's one-time with just under nine minutes left in regulation brought the Storm back within one and they had plenty of puck possession in the offensive zone with the goaltender pulled but couldn't beat Charlie Schenkel in the Sault net.
Justin Cloutier iced the game with an empty netter with 55 seconds remaining.
Will McFadden had Guelph's other goal.
"We had our goalie pulled and played most of that time in their zone. We had some chances but they made some saves and blocked some shots," said Stillman.
"Turnovers cost us some goals ... one at our blueline (allowing Brady Martin to open the scoring in the first period) and one at their blueline (the winning goal) came back to haunt us."
Guelph plays in Kitchener Sunday evening. There's a chance rookie goaltender Colin Ellsworth sees his first action in that game.
