Navan, Ont. — The Navan Grads are on the cusp of turning their season around.
Last Sunday, sitting at 5-14 and anchored near the bottom of the CCHL standings, a switch flipped: The Grads edged regional rival Rockland, 2-1, and proceeded to shut out Kanata on the road (2-0) on Thursday.
The two wins have vaulted Navan over Smiths Falls and into 10th place; the Grads trail eighth-place Kanata by seven points with a pair of games in hand, and suddenly find themselves back in the mix.
“We have to take it one game at a time,” said Grads head coach Tony Iob following Thursday’s win at Kanata. “We have to learn to keep our momentum going from game-to-game — we played really well against Rockland, (and) we ended the game (in Kanata) strong. We have to bring that energy to every game.”
The return has been sparked in no small way by the return of captain and all-star defenceman Zach Salloum from the injured reserve.
“We got Zach back, and (Tristan) Francis as well — they help us on the back end,” said Iob. “It’s taken a while to figure out our system, and having so many changes from one year to the next — plus me being a new coach — it’s (starting) to come together now.”
Some key midseason additions from south of the border have also helped bolster the Grads.
“Everybody brings something, plays their part,” explained Iob. “(Joseph) Giacobbo has played excellent — both our goalies are playing extremely well, (and) the bounces are starting to come our way.”
The first-year Grads head coach and former Olympian (Torino 2006) is pleased with his group’s progress despite their record.
“It’s been excellent, we have a very close-knit team which I think will go a long way,” said Iob. “You’re not going to win a championship in your first 20 games — we’re sticking to a gameplan, (and) just want to get into playoffs then anything can happen.”
Navan will aim to win three-straight games for the first time this season on Friday night, when it will host the Nepean Raiders at the Navan Memorial Centre (7:30 p.m.).
