By Aaron Bell
Matt Hackett is making up for lost time after a slow start to his OHL career.
The 19-year-old London native is one of the keys to a quick turnaround for the Plymouth Whalers and was outstanding in Team OHL's 5-2 win over Russia in Game 4 of the SUBWAY Super Series in Windsor on Monday. Ironically, Windsor is where his OHL career got started, although it was a start that he would like to forget.
Hackett was a third string goaltender on the Spitfires and posted a 0-5-1-1 record with a 5.04 goals against average in seven games during the 2006-07 season. Early the following year, Hackett was heading across the border to play with the Whalers after a trade for all-star netminder Michal Neuvirth. Two years later, Hackett is hoping to follow in Neuvirth's footsteps and backstop the Whalers to an OHL championship.
Hackett split the start of last season with veteran Jeremy Smith but when the Whalers moved Smith to the Niagara IceDogs in January, Hackett stepped in as their full time starter.
"Ever since then I've been playing in almost every game," Hackett said. "I love playing - I hate sitting on the bench. That keeps me going."
Hackett didn't take much time to get used to playing for the home side in Windsor again on Monday. He made six saves in the first period and 10 in the second to help the OHL team cruise out to a 4-0 lead. The Russians finally got on the board with a little under six minutes to go in the game but by that time, the OHL had the game clearly in hand.
“I thought he was excellent,” said Team OHL coach Dave Cameron of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. “It’s great as a coach with Team Canada to see him play. It gives me a chance to get a look at him prior to the selection camp. He handled himself really well tonight.”
Hackett said that it was different to hear the Windsor fans cheer his for his saves.
"It was cool that they were cheering for me here," said Hackett, a third round pick of the Minnesota Wild in the NHL Entry Draft last June. "That was weird. There were a little bit of nerves (before the game). It's the first time that I've represented the OHL. I had a great time. I settled down after the first couple of shots and things just went along from there."
Hackett was surprised to play the entire game after watching Michael Hutchinson of the London Knights and Peter Di Salvo of the Barrie Colts split the netminding duties in Game 3 on Thursday in Barrie.
"I was very pleased to get to show my stuff out there," said Hackett, who was at Team Canada's summer evaluation camp and hopes that his solid performance in the SUBWAY Super Series will seal his invitation to the final camp next month. "It's in the back of my mind obviously but I wasn't really thinking about it. I wanted to impress them (Hockey Canada scouts and coaches) and do my best out there and get an invite to the camp."
Hackett has put together a 12-9-0-0 record in 21 games with the Whalers this season. He was yanked out of his second start of the season after giving up four goals on 13 shots against the Saginaw Spirit in September but since then has allowed two or fewer goals in 12 of 19 games. He said that summer training regiment helped him get ready for this season.
"In the summer I worked out a lot with some guys including Nazem Kadri," Hackett said. "I put on some extra muscle and the game kind of slowed down for me when I came back. Everything has been great since and I've been rolling with it."
