There is still a lot of hockey left to play in the 2023-24 OJHL Regular Season, however no matter how those games finish, the Trenton Golden Hawks will remain atop the conference.
The GHawks have won the 2023-24 OJHL East Conference Regular Season Title.
Head Coach Derek Smith says the success in the regular season speaks to a team that played consistent hockey.
“Ten, eleven, twelve game unbeaten streaks, which is a testament of the commitment to the guys wanting to get better every day. Round one, we’re going to be starting game one at home.”
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Smith says the players are looking forward to getting into the postseason.
We’re excited, we have a long way to go, the playoffs are going to be a grind. There’s nine really, really good teams on our side here on the east. Obviously still waiting to see who we’re going to play.”
“To be successful, you have to have a full team. You have to have everyone pulling the same rope. We have great depth up front, on the back end, in goal. “
“Without everybody pushing each other and stepping up every night, it’s tough to have the continued consistent success we’ve had.”
There is a lot of maturity on the Trenton Golden Hawks. In 2022-23, Ben Bonisteel, Adam O’Marra, David Fournier, and Dillon Stiles made it to the OJHL Championship Series, while Ben Pickell and Lucas Lapalm have an OJHL Championship and have been in the national finals
“There’s only one way to get experience and that’s to go through it,” continued Smith. “There are not a lot of players in the OJHL, outside of the Collingwood Blues, that have won a title. We have a lot of experience and that will play a critical role. It’s going to take every single player, staffer, and member of the organization rowing in the same direction.”
There are still almost three weeks until playoff hockey begins and Smith says the guys need to start playing with a post-season mentality now.
“It’s not a light switch that you can just turn it on and off. We have to continue to push. I think the big thing with us right now is we got to get healthy. It’s coming.”
“We have to continue to fine tune the details and habits that make a team successful. Every game the rest of the year will be in the trenches. Everyone is fighting for positioning the next two weeks and we’re looking forward it it.”
More details about the first round of playoff tickets is expected to be released at the start of March.
