Jason Williams hoping for good surprise with Team GOJHL

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The first time the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League put a team into the MacPherson tournament, they won the whole thing.

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Last year, they didn’t manage a single victory.

This time, they will show up at the St. Andrew’s College-hosted event in Aurora Friday armed with four London Knights prospects and a talented under-18 roster hoping to bond quickly and start winning immediately.

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“You never know,” said Jason Williams, head coach of Team GOJHL and the Strathroy Rockets. “It’s a surprise. We had a few practices, but the first one with the full team will be before we start. We’ll do our best to prepare them, give them a pre-scout of who they will face and let them showcase themselves.

“You don’t know what kind of team you have until you’re on the ice.”

Brendan Gerber, the Knights draft pick, will play for the second straight year. He is leading the Rockets in scoring and has 16 goals in 25 games since being acquired from Elmira. Stratford Warriors forward Quinn Kipfer, the Huron-Perth grad committed to Bowling Green, will serve as captain.

The Junior B crew includes Knights-to-be Caleb Mitchell of the London Nationals and Cohen Bidgood of the St. Marys Lincolns, as well as Knights first-rounder Logan Hawery.

“When you get a player (of that calibre), that will definitely help,” Williams said. “He’s very talented and London is stacked for what looks like another (OHL title) run this year. This helps get him some exposure, more playing time in all scenarios and that’s probably what the Knights are looking for with him to make the transition that much easier.”

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Hawery has five goals, including a four-goal debut, and seven points in five games since joining the St. Thomas Stars. This weekend, the 16-year-old will face the Brunswick School, Northwood School and Bishop Kearney before the playoff round begins.

The event happens right on the cusp of the GOJHL’s stretch drive, where there should be more surprises in store.

Strathroy holds the eighth and final playoff position in the highly competitive Western Conference. The Rockets would like to move up a few ladder rungs if possible.

“It’s extremely hard (to make the playoffs) now,” Williams, the 2002 Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings forward, said. “We’ve talked about it as a group the importance of every point and being ready to play every game. It’s going to be a dogfight right till the end. That’s what you want – good parity – and on our side at least, it seems if you don’t show up, you’ll end up on the wrong side of things.

“We’re going to need everyone down the stretch to find a way into the playoffs.”

The Rockets hit the reset button after the trade deadline and built around a defensive mindset. They aren’t the same offensive threat they were a year ago.

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“We can’t play a run-and-gun game and get in a track meet with teams like Chatham, St. Marys, London, Stratford and Listowel,” Williams said. “We can’t outscore those teams so we have to be stingy, stay out of the box and give ourselves a chance.

“We’ve started to find a bit more scoring by putting more pucks on net, getting some rebounds and dirty goals. When everyone is committed, we’re a tough team to beat.”

It would be surprising if the GOJHL’s MacPherson tournament entry was any sort of pushover, too.

rpyette@postmedia.com

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