The Barrie Jr. Sharks' dream season is over and they now focus on the provincial championships
The Sharks went into the Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) playoffs for the first time in their history — with the youngest squad in the PWHL — and were able to notch a few victories before losing in the quarter-finals and heading home.
Usually, the loss would have meant no provincials in the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) playoffs, but things are different in pandemic-era sports.
Sharks head coach Ed Mauro said normally the PWHL playoffs are a traditional format, with the final four teams playing a championship tournament similar to college hockey.
“The provincials is a year-end tournament for all divisions and teams have to qualify to play in it, but the PWHL teams are all in it automatically,” Mauro told BarrieToday. “This year, we had 26 teams in our league because of COVID and last weekend the bottom 14 teams played in a qualifying tournament to see which eight teams would play in the provincials.”
That means the Sharks will head to the April 7-10 event in the Toronto area and can still bring home some hardware.
But the PWHL title will have to wait for another season.
In their opening game on Friday, March 24, the Sharks fell 7-2 to the Mississauga Hurricanes, with Barrie’s Haley Beckett getting both of her team’s goals.
The Sharks' second game went much better as Barrie toppled the Nepean Wildcats, 3-2. The local squad spread the scoring wealth around with Taylor Battaglia, Eden Dusome and Julia Mumford all scoring for the Sharks.
Saturday afternoon's game against the Ottawa Senators was a 1-0 victory for the Sharks, with Ireland McCloskey scoring the game’s lone goal.
That 2-1 record put the Sharks in a quarter-final match against the powerful Etobicoke Dolphins, which was the end of the line for Barrie’s dream season.
In a 3-1 loss to the eventual silver-medallists from Etobicoke, Sydney White had Barrie’s only goal as they put the cap on the most successful season in the club’s history.
Mauro said this was a tough loss and not the way the team wanted to end the season, but he and the club are already looking forward to next year.
“This was a great season, even with the loss to Etobicoke. We were the youngest team going into the playoffs, we grabbed a couple of wins and played late in the second day, which is a success,” Mauro said. “Next year, we plan on playing well into Day 3.”
After a couple of years of limited play due to the pandemic, Mauro also says he hopes for a bigger field of play and more games against the rest of the league.
“It should be wide open play next year and we’ll not be limited to division bubbles, so to speak, hopefully,” he said. “That will allow for more travel and bonding and testing the waters against other teams.”
Mauro knows the team will be without some veterans who graduate and move on with their hockey careers, but likes what he sees for next year’s squad.
“The players leaving will be missed dearly. They helped build something great here and now it's up to the players who go into next year with a taste of the playoffs,” he said.
“Again, this was the youngest team in the league this year and we went to the playoffs," Mauro added. "Next year, they will be even more determined, hungrier and with hopefully a whole city of hockey fans behind them game in and game out.”
The OWHA playoffs for the Sharks begin at 6:15 p.m., Thursday, April 7 at Iceland in Mississauga against the Bluewater Hawks.
