Halifax Returns from Road Trip for Home Opener

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The Hammerheads returned home from their three game road trip that saw them go 1-0-2. The Calgary Chinook are in town for the home opener, which will be a sellout. Only standing room only tickets remain for tonight's contest.

Speaking to the press, Halifax General manager Rob Williams said, "Starting on the road was beneficial for our young squad. It gave the kids a week away from all the excitement here in town to focus on playing good hockey, sticking with our system and not being distracted by the kind of things that you have to deal with when you're at home. Nobody's bothering you for tickets, you're not waking up to feed the baby at 2:00 am, etc. It's all about hockey when you're on the road."

When asked about his recent additions, Williams remarked, "Getting both Chris Tierney and Ian Cole should add some defensive depth for us. Goals may be hard for us to score a lot of this season, so improving our depth made sense. We can't afford to get into shoot-outs with other teams, we just don't have the guns yet. Tierney will be centering the fourth line and see some penalty killing time. Ian Cole will play with Faulk which should make for a decent second pairing."

 A question was asked about young phenom Auston Matthews, who has seemed very comfortable so far in the CCHL.

"What do you think about Matthews first few games?"

"I think he's living up to expectations. Three goals in three games is all anyone could ask of the young man. One thing that you guys don't see like we with the team do is his leadership. He's got a maturity about him and he's very likable. The guys just gravitate to him and enjoy being around him. He know's he's a special talent but he's not arrogant at all. So far, he's doing everything we ask of him and he's doing it the right way.

The Hammerheads have had fantastic support from the local community with all the season ticket packages being sold. The team has set aside approximately 750 game day tickets for the public, with most of them being SRO seats.

UPDATE: Halifax tied Calgary on a late 3rd period goal by Jason Chimera. Tyler Johnson added two assists and netminder Keith Kinkaid stopped 36 of 38 Chinook shots on net.