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| 2006-07 FIRST HALF REVIEW |
| The RMC Paladins enter the Christmas Break with a mixed review after the first half of the 2006-07 OUA hockey season. Despite losing some key leadership and character from last years team, the Paladins were hoping to ride last year�s momentum into this season. Gone from last year were Head Coach Kelly Nobes who move to the same position at Wilfred Laurier, Captain Pat McDonald and offensive defenseman Brent Maurice to graduation and second leading scorer Dion Lahoda. This years team was led by new coach Jim Houlton, last years rookie sensation Paul Bradley (Calgary, AB), stellar goaltender Blair Robertson (Outlook,SK/Quesnell Millionaires) and big defenseman Matt Fetzner (Royston, BC/Weyburn Red Wings) After a rough exhibition schedule the Paladins opened up with an impressive opening weekend by winning their first game 6-3 over the York Lions and then suffering a tough loss to a tough Brock Badgers team. The team then went on to lose three games in a row despite playing well. They dropped a 6-3 decision against the #9 ranked Laurier Golden Hawks and then were shut out 2-0 by Guelph. The next weekend things looked to turn around as RMC played a solid game against UQTR despite losing 6-2 and they then bounced back to dominate Concordia 5-2. That momentum carried on to a road trip to Montreal where RMC battled then #3 ranked McGill to a 1-1 tie. After that loss the Paladins then went into a tailspin. They were soundly defeated 7-1 by a lowly University of Ottawa Gee Gees team. The next weekend they faced two tough opponents in the Western Mustangs and Waterloo Warriors losing those games 7-0 and 7-3. The low point came at home against the Windsor Warriors, who coming into the game only had one win, but managed to walk out of Kingston with a 5-3 and 9-3 shellacking of the Paladins. In the final two weeks of the first half things started to look up for RMC with the divisional games. They bounced back with a 7-3 win over last place Ryerson and then dropped a tough 3-0 decision against division leaders the U of T Varsity Blues. The first half ended with a split against the Queens Golden Gaels. RMC winning game one 5-1 and then being shut out 3-0 the following night. At the end of the first half RMC sits tied with the Concordia Stingers for the final playoff spot in the OUA East Division. They are 7 points up on Ryerson and sitting one back of Queen�s. Offensively the Paladins are led by Paul Bradley with 11G 10A for 21 Pts tied for 20th in the nation. Roman Srutek (Kanata,ON/Kanata Stallions) sits in second with 4G and 9A Nick Cregan (Ottawa,ON/Cumberland Grads) is third with 9G and 3A. In goal Adam Briggs (Wallace,NS/Charloettetown Abbies) has emerged in his second season sporting a 4-6 record with a 3.54 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. That ranks him #35 in CIS Hockey. Overall the Paladins are 28th in the nation for goals scored, 2.6/game and goals against, 4.4/game. |
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