Post by excanucksfan on Jan 24, 2008 13:52:32 GMT -5
London Free Press
Beljo is Knights' jack of all trades
Thu, January 24, 2008
By RYAN PYETTE, SUN MEDIA
Jadran Beljo is a handy fellow to have on a team.
Back in October, the London Knights needed a forward to spark their offence. They acquired the 20-year-old Sudbury native from the Niagara IceDogs and he scored in his first four games.
Lately, the Knights have needed an upgrade for a woeful penalty kill. With captain Scott Aarssen and forward Andrew Wilkins both hurt, they're ranked 17th in the OHL and the only ones behind it are clubs that will be watching the playoffs.
Say hello to Beljo. If somebody saw London for the first time on Sunday, they would have left the John Labatt Centre thinking the Knights had one of the most dangerous penalty kills in history.
The crafty veteran scored a short-handed goal and assisted on another by Akim Aliu. On a different kill, Phil Varone had a breakaway chance that led to a second-period penalty shot.
This wasn't against some defenceless bottom-feeder. This was Kitchener, the league's best team, and its star goalie Steve Mason.
"We were just trying to take them out of their comfort zone and force them to turn over the puck," Beljo said after dismantling the Rangers' deadly top power-play unit. "If we get an opportunity, we go for it but the most important thing is to gain possession of the puck. If we let them throw it around, we're in trouble."
If the opposition turns it over, they're in big trouble.
Beljo has three short-handed goals in the past two months and leads the Knights in that category (London only has five, so he has more than half the team total). In his previous four regular seasons spent with Mississauga and Peterborough, how many short-handed goals did he score?
Zero.
Beljo isn't the biggest body or fastest skater, but he can score from anywhere, he can pass the puck and he's rarely out of position. Sometimes, teams don't need a whirling top on the ice to kill penalties. Sometimes, they just need someone smart and skilled.
"We're trying to take away time and space," said head coach Dale Hunter. "We don't want teams to get set up on us. We're trying to angle them towards the boards and cut them off, force them to do something with the puck."
A Rangers team that scored five power-play goals the previous night in Owen Sound refused to dump the puck in on the Knights with the man advantage. They paid for it by surrendering numerous breakaways and odd-man rushes.
"We've been working hard on our penalty kill and we've been switching things up lately, trying to find something that works," said Knights defenceman Matt Clarke. "We're trying to be more aggressive. We're attacking the puck carrier."
It worked against Kitchener and now two of London's next three games, including tonight, are against Mississauga, which owns the league's worst power play.
The Majors have some talented players like high-scoring forward Kaspars Daugavins and rookie Casey Cizikas (who starred for gold-medal winning Ontario at the world under-17 at the JLC), but they're incredibly susceptible to giving up the short-handed goal.
KNIGHTWATCH
Today: vs. Mississauga, 7 p.m., at the John Labatt Centre
Tomorrow: vs. Peterborough, 7:30 p.m., at the JLC
Sunday: at Mississauga, 2 p.m.
Beljo is Knights' jack of all trades
Thu, January 24, 2008
By RYAN PYETTE, SUN MEDIA
Jadran Beljo is a handy fellow to have on a team.
Back in October, the London Knights needed a forward to spark their offence. They acquired the 20-year-old Sudbury native from the Niagara IceDogs and he scored in his first four games.
Lately, the Knights have needed an upgrade for a woeful penalty kill. With captain Scott Aarssen and forward Andrew Wilkins both hurt, they're ranked 17th in the OHL and the only ones behind it are clubs that will be watching the playoffs.
Say hello to Beljo. If somebody saw London for the first time on Sunday, they would have left the John Labatt Centre thinking the Knights had one of the most dangerous penalty kills in history.
The crafty veteran scored a short-handed goal and assisted on another by Akim Aliu. On a different kill, Phil Varone had a breakaway chance that led to a second-period penalty shot.
This wasn't against some defenceless bottom-feeder. This was Kitchener, the league's best team, and its star goalie Steve Mason.
"We were just trying to take them out of their comfort zone and force them to turn over the puck," Beljo said after dismantling the Rangers' deadly top power-play unit. "If we get an opportunity, we go for it but the most important thing is to gain possession of the puck. If we let them throw it around, we're in trouble."
If the opposition turns it over, they're in big trouble.
Beljo has three short-handed goals in the past two months and leads the Knights in that category (London only has five, so he has more than half the team total). In his previous four regular seasons spent with Mississauga and Peterborough, how many short-handed goals did he score?
Zero.
Beljo isn't the biggest body or fastest skater, but he can score from anywhere, he can pass the puck and he's rarely out of position. Sometimes, teams don't need a whirling top on the ice to kill penalties. Sometimes, they just need someone smart and skilled.
"We're trying to take away time and space," said head coach Dale Hunter. "We don't want teams to get set up on us. We're trying to angle them towards the boards and cut them off, force them to do something with the puck."
A Rangers team that scored five power-play goals the previous night in Owen Sound refused to dump the puck in on the Knights with the man advantage. They paid for it by surrendering numerous breakaways and odd-man rushes.
"We've been working hard on our penalty kill and we've been switching things up lately, trying to find something that works," said Knights defenceman Matt Clarke. "We're trying to be more aggressive. We're attacking the puck carrier."
It worked against Kitchener and now two of London's next three games, including tonight, are against Mississauga, which owns the league's worst power play.
The Majors have some talented players like high-scoring forward Kaspars Daugavins and rookie Casey Cizikas (who starred for gold-medal winning Ontario at the world under-17 at the JLC), but they're incredibly susceptible to giving up the short-handed goal.
KNIGHTWATCH
Today: vs. Mississauga, 7 p.m., at the John Labatt Centre
Tomorrow: vs. Peterborough, 7:30 p.m., at the JLC
Sunday: at Mississauga, 2 p.m.