Welsh explodes

In four seasons with the Lakehead Thunderwolves, Winnipeg native Devin Welsh scored four goals.

In 2007-08 and 2009-10, he failed to score.

Then, out of the blue last Friday night, all of a sudden the 25-year-old, who struggled to find playing time in three of his first four seasons, looked like the second coming of Jeff Richards.

Welsh scored twice and added a pair of assists in the opener against the York Lions, a 4-1 win. Then, to show it wasn’t a fluke, he added another on Saturday, helping the Wolves complete a weekend sweep with a 4-3 triumph in Orillia.

Welsh, who never scored more than five goals during five major junior seasons split between the Ontario and Western hockey leagues, is taking his new-found success in stride.

“It feels pretty good. It feels like a big weight off my chest,” said Welsh, held off the score sheet for the first four games of the OUA season.

“I try to contribute to the team any way I can. Usually It’s blocking shots, playing the body, being in good condition. But when you can contribute on the scoreboard it feels extra nice.”

He said he’s not doing anything differently in his fifth and final campaign in a Thunderwolves uniform, just catching some breaks, he said, at a loss for an explanation of his heretofore unknown offensive prowess.

“I don’t know. I just keep trying to improve and keep working to get into good positions and get open for my teammates,” he said. “I’ve been very lucky. The guys have been skilled enough to find me and I happen to be in good spots this year, it seems.”

He’ll be the first to admit it was a struggle those first three seasons, never knowing if he’d be getting into a game, usually needed an injury or someone to find the coach’s doghouse for an opportunity. One of the hardest workers, both in practice and in game competition, it wasn’t for lack of effort on his part.

There just always seemed to be a lineup of players with a little more skill, with a little more trust from the coaching staff.
More often than not, he was the odd man out.

Things began to change in 2010-11. For the first time he cracked the 20-game barrier, playing in all but one regular season contest.

This season, there’s no budging the veteran forward, who checks in at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, from the lineup.

“Sometimes you start to wonder, when you go through that long of a streak, but it’s nice to know it is there and I’m just going to concentrate on doing the little things that got me there. I’m not going to go out and try to score goals every night.

“I’m going to go out and contribute to the team, whether it’s blocking shots or hitting. And if it’s scoring goals, that’s a great thing to do,” said Welsh, who has spent the past three summers learning to dive with the Canadian Navy, and intends to embark on a post-hockey military career.

Coach Joel Scherban said it looks like Welsh is playing with a lot of confidence, and has also brought a bit more talent to the Thunderwolves table.

“He’s looked a little bit quicker than last year. He’s being first on the puck. He’s winning a lot of his battles and he got rewarded for that this weekend,” Scherban said.

Experience will do that, he added.

“He’s always had a great attitude and great work ethic. He’s probably more committed than anyone else. Eventually if you work that hard, it’s going to start paying off. He’s starting to have his breakthrough season.”

Welsh, unfortunately for the Thunderwolves, will have to wait until Saturday to see if his touch around the net continues. He’ll sit out Friday’s game serving an OUA-mandated suspension for an incident in Saturday’s game against York.

The first-place Wolves, winners of four straight, take on the Ontario Institute of Technology on Friday and Saturday night at Fort William Gardens.

Claw marks: Forward Ryan McDonald is listed as doubtful for the weekend series, still dealing with a leg injury suffered against McGill two weeks ago … Forward Brennan Menard is also unlikely to play, with an upper body injury, while Jadran Beljo (concussion), is up in the air … With 12 points in six games, LU forward Matt Caria tops all OUA scorers, one point better than Waterloo’s Kirt Hill and Josh Schappert. Teammate Trevor Gamache is tied for fourth with 10 points.