Bad loss to Wolves leaves Colts needing to ‘figure it out’

The Jekyll and Hyde second half of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) season continues for the Barrie Colts.

The question remains: which character will the Colts emulate come playoff time?

Will it be the team that jumped to the top of the Eastern Conference standings and showed they should be considered one of the top contenders? Or the hot-and-cold team that has looked disinterested and struggled for a large part of the last three months?

It’s easy to see which one showed up Sunday afternoon in Sudbury after a dismal performance in a 7-2 loss to the Wolves at the Sudbury Community Arena.

The Colts looked nothing like a contender.

“Honestly, I’m not even too sure,” said veteran forward Cole Beaudoin, when asked his take on what is going on after a third-straight game where the Colts were thoroughly dominated. “We need to figure it out together. We’ve already clinched a playoff spot, so we have to try to get together as a team and be a team going into the playoffs because going into the playoffs the team that sticks together and plays for each other, is going to come out on top.

“We just need to keep moving forward day-by-day and go into the playoffs being a good team.”

With just six games remaining on the regular season schedule and the Colts still four points away from wrapping up the Central Division title, it may be time to do a little soul-searching.

“Yeah,” said Beaudoin when asked if it’s time he and his teammates talk things out. “Obviously, everyone is frustrated and we’re going to talk to each other. Just move forward as a team.”

Two days after leaning heavily on goaltender Ben Hrebik in a 3-2 win in Sault Ste. Marie where they were heavily outplayed, the Colts left their goalie out to dry on Sunday, finding themselves down 3-0 a little more than 16 minutes into this one.

Barrie was outshot 19-5 in the opening period, while the smaller 12-9 Sudbury edge in shots in the second was deeply misleading in another period dominated by the Wolves.

By the time Barrie (38-20-2-2) appeared to show a little life in the third, the game was long over. If not for Hrebik, the Wolves could have easily been in the double digits on the scoreboard.

“I thought our effort was better than the game in the Soo. We made big mistakes,” said Colts’ general manager and head coach Marty Williamson. “You can chalk that up to effort or mental fatigue or whatever, but it’s almost like the majority of the goals were one big mistake.

“We actually did some things better, but again you just can’t make those kinds of mistakes against anybody in this league. Unless your goalie stands on his head, you’re not going to win hockey games.”

Quentin Musty had three goals and five points to lead the Wolves (30-26-5-0), while Ondrej Molnar, Rowan Henderson, Kieron Walton, and Chase Coughlan also scored.

Musty even taunted the Barrie bench, but that drew little reaction.

Beau Akey and Anthony Romani scored for the Colts, who showed little jump and were anything but physical against their division rivals.

“No,” said Williamson when asked if a team playing like this will go a long way in the playoffs. “For two periods we didn’t get to the net, we didn’t cause enough havoc out there as far as throwing pucks (at the net).

“We played way too fancy and too soft. A team like Sudbury, that’s what they feast off.”

 The forecheck was nonexistent all game.

“Again, it was because we were on the outside,” said Williamson, whose club has lost three straight to a Sudbury team they could face in the opening round of the playoffs. “We didn’t get people to the inside, so we didn’t have options.

“It’s concerning because there are six games left and we’re not playing good hockey, and that’s not a good way to go into the playoffs.”

Beaudoin says he knows he and his teammates are a better team than this. He says they have shown that, and they need to get back to being that team.

A good start, he says, would be Tuesday night in St. Catharines when they face the Niagara IceDogs, another possible first-round playoff opponent.

“Just because we lost 7-2 today, and it wasn’t a pretty game, doesn’t mean we can’t go into the playoffs and win this thing,” said the Utah top prospect. “I have full belief in this team. Today wasn’t a pretty one, but we need to get it out of our minds and forget about it, learn from our mistakes, and go into Niagara Tuesday and be better.”

The Colts, says Williamson, have time to turn things around. Be the team that went 24-11 before the new year, other than the club that has struggled to a 14-13 record in 2025.

“You’re never as bad as you think and you’re never as good as you think,” said the Colts’ coach. “We’re in one of those spells right now where we just do not have five guys on the same page. The problem is you start losing a few games, confidence.

“That’s where we got to make sure for Tuesday that we go out and play a team game.”

Time may be running out to track down the Brantford Bulldogs atop the conference standings. Barrie trails the Bulldogs by five points, though they have a game in hand.

“We just have to finish these last six games strong,” said Beaudoin. “Finish first in our division and you never know maybe you get first in the conference. After today’s loss, there’s not as high a chance but you never know. So, we just got to finish these six games strong.”

Game time on Tuesday night at the Meridian Centre is 7 p.m.

ICE CHIPS: The Colts complete their five-game road swing Friday night in Brampton. . . Akey’s power-play goal was his fifth of the season and first since Nov. 15^th. . . Romani, who also had an assist, scored his sixth goal in the last seven games. . . It was a rough afternoon for the defensive pairing of Grayson Tiller and Kashawn Aitcheson who were a combined minus seven. . . Finn Marshall made 26 saves for Sudbury. . . With the exception of Justin Handsor, who was an even 0, every Colt was a minus in plus/minus. . .  Barrie signed 2024 third-round pick  Cole Emmerton. The Oro-Medonte native has 10 goals and 25 points for the Toronto Patriots and ranks second in scoring by a 2008-born defenceman in the Ontario Junior Hockey League.