SHELBURNE - It has been said lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice. It did, however, for the Shelburne Red Wings last weekend (Jan. 7-8) when the Greater Metro Hockey League (GMHL) club climbed the standings by gaining back-to-back wins at its hometown barn.

The third place Elliot Lake Bobcats fell short 6-5 in overtime on Saturday, while the Bobcaygeon Bucks were defeated 4-3 by the Dufferin County squad. “Our guys stepped it up and worked so hard,” head coach Mike Fish said. “It was a full-team effort.”

Shelburne has been notorious this season for falling flat in the majority of its outings, holding a 6-21 record, manning the second-last place spot before the weekend.  With its most recent wins behind it, the Red Wings successfully left the bottom of the ranks and now sit in 11th place out of 13 teams, with 13 points.

The Red Wings’ first four-point weekend of the season broke a three-game losing skid and has entered the club into a chance at making a run come the playoffs.  According to Fish, the GMHL?playoffs operate through having the bottom two teams play a one-game playoff, with the losing team out of contention.  “It’s very generous,” he said. “Our entire mentality of this team is we expect to make the playoffs ... but we don’t want to be a bottom-two team."

The Shelburne Red Wings look to carry its winning momentum into Friday (Jan. 13) against the fifth place team, the Bradford Rattlers.  The puck drops at 8:30 p.m. at the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex.

From Orangeville.com
By Todd McEwan