Jonathon Brodie – Recorder & Times
By the end of the Brockville Braves series against the Kanata Lasers there was a pattern that kept emerging after every matchup with coach Jesse Winchester almost always giving a special shoutout to forward Eric Faith for his strong play.
“I thought Faith was incredible tonight,” said Winchester after Game 1.
Game 2 – “Eric Faith has really stepped up on both sides of the puck and has been outstanding so far.”
Game 4 – “What’s most encouraging to me was where we were scoring the (power play goals), right on top of the crease. We worked on screens for the last month and how to do it properly. Faith and Jordi (Jefferson) were both on rebounds, not pretty plays, but just playoff goals – being in the right spot and finishing hard.”
All of those quotes came unprompted by Winchester with the coach always wanting to offer up his thoughts about Faith’s play.
A few months ago someone would have been hard-pressed to guess that Faith would be receiving constant praise from Winchester, a former NHLer.
It’s not that Faith wasn’t doing things right in the past necessarily, he just wasn’t even on the Braves roster with the team shipping him out on their own accord. Nowadays, though, it seems like he can’t do much wrong.
The expectations put on Faith have always been pretty big since he started suiting up for the Braves on a full-time basis in the 2015-16 season as a 17-year-old. When he was traded by Brockville to the Kemptville 73s this season in October the consensus was he didn’t meet the potential placed on him. A little more than two months later he was sent back to the Braves in a trade deadline deal and since his return he has not only been meeting expectations, but he’s exceeding it.
“I definitely feel like I’ve become a much smarter and overall better hockey player, just working hard and focusing on the little details and making sure I take care of my D-zone before I move on to the offensive zone,” Faith said.
The Carp, Ont. native sort of embodies what this Braves team is this year. Since his second-stint with Brockville he has found his name mostly penciled into the lower part of the depth charts – although not in the playoffs – but his role with the team hasn’t diminished any. If anything it has probably increased, a message to the team and to fans that if you play the right way – whether it be getting points or blocking shots – you will be rewarded with more ice time. If everyone plays that way then the entire team will be rewarded with wins.
Winchester wasn’t complimenting Faith because of his goals, which he scored two of in the series, or his passing prowess that earned him three assists against Kanata. What made Faith stand out was everything else he did.
He blocked shot, dished out hits when he needed to, and he was usually the first forward to back-check. He was as dangerous on the penalty kill as he was on the power play. Faith got two power play points in the quarter-final series against Kanata, but for every opportunity he created on the manadvantage he did something equally great and grittier when his team was down a player with his legs proof of that as they were covered in bruises.
“It’s definitely humbling that (Winchester) is happy with my play and trusts me the way he does,” said Faith. “That just motivates me even more to keep playing well and keep making him rely on me that much more.”
In truth, praise for Faith from Winchester came in before the postseason started. The coach’s verbal high marks started rolling in a few weeks ago when he looked to be getting in playoff form and doing particular plays that show someone’s character over their skill.
For example, about two weeks before playoffs started in a game against the Hawkesbury Hawks and his team up by a goal with less than a minute left in regulation, Faith beat out an icing call by diving for the puck right before it crossed the line to dump a few extra seconds off the clock.
“It’s usually just one play to another.
I try not to think about things that happened in the past too much and just focus on what’s happening next,” said Faith, adding Winchester praised him for the play against Hawkesbury when he came off the ice. “Definitely, though, when you have a chance to make a big play for your team you got to take advantage of it.”
Winchester, arguably, saved his best compliment for Faith in preparation for the Braves upcoming semifinal series against Ottawa, which starts Thursday.
“It starts with Faith up front,” said Winchester. “He plays so hard and he’s so smart without the puck. His reads were flawless in that series and we’re going to rely on him as much of the same.”
Original Story at Recorder.ca
