Ryan Pyette, London Free Press - The Guelph Storm were dead.

Their stars were struggling. They traded captain Matt Kennedy. Their best goalie, Brandon Foote, spent a half-season recovering from hip surgery. Head coach Jason Brooks was in agony with a back problem that needed steel installed as part of a corrective spinal fusion.

Beaten-down Guelph was looking up at the playoffs for the first time since its post-Dukes of Hamilton days.

"Last year, we lost 69-man games to injury," said Brooks, not including his own woes in those stats. "This year, that number's at 239 (and counting)."

The white flag would've been easy to wave.

But something happened during the home stretch on this garbage dump of a season.

Foote tossed aside his crutches and his reborn hip helped right the ship.

The star-crossed talents who once looked so lost -- Peter Holland and Michael Latta-- came to life.

Veterans added in trades -- Ryan Gottschalk from Barrie and Chris Van Laren from Sudbury -- helped turn this thing around.

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