Depth will pay off in long run for Elora

If the Palmerston 81s were their stiffest test of the 2009-10 season to date, the Elora Rocks appear to be on schedule in their quest to make a run for another WOAA championship.
Palmerston gave the Rocks fits in the second period and appeared like they could get close enough to Elora to make them sweat, but the Rocks found even more ways to make an opponent pay and skated off with an 11-6 win.
And when he looks back at it, Rocks coach Kevin Lobsinger wasn't convinced that it was strictly the 81s' play that the difference.
"They're a good team and I'm not going to deny them that, but we made some mistakes in the second period and they scored on those errors," he said. "There were a couple of times we tried to muscle the puck up the boards instead of making an easier pass to an open teammate. They made us pay for it, but we learned that we have things to improve on."
One thing that Lobsinger saw that made him happy was that Elora didn't let an opponent off easy. Heading into the third period, Palmerston had all kinds of momentum and was trailing by just three goals -- the Rocks put their foot down defensively and didn't allow the 81s another goal as they cruised to an easy third period and the eventual win.
"The way things had gone for us in the second, it could've turned in Palmerston's favour pretty easily but we came out and played a great third period," he said. "We held them without a goal and we picked up two more. And if you look at the difference between our team and theirs, they had two or three guys doing their scoring -- we had nine."
Lobsinger admitted that he was disappointed in how his team handled things after they had built a 6-1 lead on the 'Trains, but said those things are bound to happen when it looks like the rout is on.
"Guys were looking up at the scoreboard, and I'm sure some of them were hoping to hear their name called for the next goal," he said. "But in the bigger picture, we're trying to win a championship and guys on other teams might just be trying to win a scoring title. I think that's a huge difference between us and some of the other teams."
Rich Colwill believes the Rocks might have underestimated the 81s a little, given that they were able to find holes to exploit in Elora's game. While having three wide-open scoring games to get their season started wasn't an excuse in his mind, Colwill did say this served as a good wake-up call to get the Rocks better prepared for what's coming.
"This shows us that we're going to need to give a better effort when we're facing better teams," he said. "We can't just rely on scoring lots of goals, especially against teams like Saugeen and Shelburne. Sure, we've got four lines that can turn it on and give other teams fits, but we can't rely on that. We need to get better in our defensive zone play, but we also have to be more patient. There will be times we'll just have to eat the puck."
Facing Ripley for the second time this season, Colwill and the Rocks are anticipating a better effort from the Wolves. It will also be a chance for Elora to put into practice all the tinkering they're likely to do in getting ready for Saugeen Shores in Port Elgin November 13.
"We can't look past Ripley, because we're sure they're going to come in here with a better effort than the last time we saw them," he said. "We have to aim at getting better with each game as a team."
Elora hosts Ripley on Satuday, Nov. 7, at 8:30 p.m., and will then head to Port Elgin to clash with the Winterhawks on Friday, Nov. 13, at 8:30 p.m.