MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — It has been 580 days since Paramount Fine Foods Centre has hosted a hockey game. But after a year-and-a-half of a global pandemic and what felt like an endless array of uncertainty and frustration, the arena has opened its doors again. While they did open their regular season back on Oct. 9, the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads have celebrated a homecoming as they welcomed a regular-season opponent to the Paramount Fine Foods Centre for the first time since March 2020 — what has felt like, for all intents and purposes, a lifetime ago.

However, while spirits were high having the hometown fans back in attendance, the Steelheads had entered this weekend’s action with less momentum than they would have liked. That is because after a convincing 7-2 win in Kingston to open the regular season, the blue-and-white dropped both of their contests last weekend: a 7-1 trashing in North Bay and a 2-0 loss in Barrie.

Steelheads head coach James Richmond filled me in on those defeats.

“We need to play with more urgency and desperation to win hockey games,” a matter-of-fact Richmond said. “And we need to be sharper in the offensive zone. We actually created a lot of scoring chances and in both games, we really didn’t give either team much.”

James Hardie, the Steelheads’ reliable veteran, scored his club’s lone goal last weekend. The Steelheads, however, should not be judged solely by the game’s goal count. They did, after all, pepper the opposition with 43 shots. To the blue-and-white’s chagrin, though, North Bay netminder Joe Vrbetic was sharp, turning away 42 of those shots to give the Battalion the decisive win.

The Steelheads were no slouches the following night, either.

In Barrie, the blue-and-white registered 33 shots on goal. Unfortunately for the visitors, netminder Matteo Lalama was flawless, earning the shutout to give the Colts the victory.

“We’ll continue to work on the details of our game and the results will get better,” Richmond added.

Fast-forward to this Friday night.

The Steelheads played host to the Ottawa 67’s, and while their last two games didn’t end the way they would have hoped, the Steelheads were nonetheless excited to be back on home ice in front of their own fans. Coach Richmond was especially excited for his team’s long-awaited return to the Paramount Fine Foods Centre as he told me on Friday morning.

“It’s always great to play at home in front of your families and friends and the opening night is always exciting,” beamed the Mississauga bench boss. “This season feels that much more special because it’s been so long. I’m sure it will be a great night for everyone.”

And it was.

For the first 40 minutes of their home-opener, the Steelheads completely outplayed the 67’s, outshooting them 25-12 while completely overmatching them at both ends of the ice. The blue-and-white even scored two quick goals in the opening minute of the third to make it 4-0. And the first three goals scored on the night? Courtesy of none other than the aforementioned reliable veteran, Hardie, who justifiably earned First Star of the Game honours.

Ottawa did make things interesting in the final frame by scoring twice and spoiling Roman Basran’s shutout bid. However, that was all the 67’s could muster as the Steelheads won by a 5-2 count to get their home schedule off on the right foot.

Aside from Hardie, Ty Anselmini and Ole Bjorvik-Holm scored for Mississauga — each their firsts of the campaign — to contribute to the victory.

If Richmond and the Steelheads were looking for a viable rebound from last week’s action, they certainly got it in their home-opener on Friday night to cap off what was a very busy weekend for the club.

On Saturday, the Steelheads were in St. Catharines to take on the Niagara IceDogs and were back at home on Sunday to host the Hamilton Bulldogs. Unfortunately, for the blue-and-white, they lost both contests by 4-2 counts. Closing out this weekend’s action, the Steelheads are 2-4-0, sitting in a tie with the Peterborough Petes for last place in the OHL’s Eastern Conference.

Of course, the season is still very early, so don’t feel too discouraged if you are a fan of the blue-and-white. Up next for the Steelheads is a home matchup this Friday night against Brandt Clarke and the Barrie Colts.

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