NEWS

Photo by Amy Deroche, Deroche Sports Photography

William Proulx, OHA communications

The Napanee Raiders are the 2019 Schmalz Cup champions. 

Napanee earned its second Schmalz Cup with a Game 5, 3-1, victory over the Grimsby Peach Kings April 30 at Strathcona Paper Centre. 

The Raiders' path to a Schmalz Cup championship was impressive as the team went nearly perfect and only dropped one of 21 contests for a 20-1-0 record. The team's only loss came in Game 2 of the Schmalz Cup finals when the Peach Kings won its only game of the finals, 3-2. 

The Schmalz Cup victory is Napanee's second in franchise history and its first since they claimed the trophy in 1993. The club has appeared in four Schmalz Cup finals. In 1996 Napanee lost in five games to the Paris Mounties and in 1963 they were downed by New Hamburg.

Prior to the playoffs, the Raiders led the PJHL's Tod Division with a 38-4-1-1 record and 78 points. They led the second-placed Picton Pirates by 16 points. 

En route to the Schmalz Cup finals, the Raiders swept each of the four previous series. The club's postseason began in the PJHL East's Tod Division where they swept the Port Hope Panthers in the first round of the East Conference playoffs. As the Raiders postseason continued they defeated the Picton Pirates (4-0) for the Tod Division title, and the Uxbridge Bruins in the East Conference finals (4-0) to claim the conference. Napanee's Schmalz Cup semifinal opponent was the Alliston Hornets, who they also swept in four games. 

In 12 PJHL playoff games, Ryan Casselman scored 10 goals and 17 points to lead all Raiders' players. Casselman went on to add 13 more playoff points in nine Schmalz Cup games to lead the team in postseason scoring with a total of 30 points. 

Goaltenders Nicholas Nabuurs and Bailey Maracle split the playoff duties for the Raiders with Nabuurs carrying most of the workload having appeared in 17 of the team's 21 playoff games. Nabuurs finished the East playoffs with a perfect 8-0-0 record and a 1.63 goals-against-average. Through nine Schmalz Cup games, Nabuurs had just one loss in nine games and posted a 1.45 goal-against-average and a .933 save percentage. Maracle finished the postseason with four wins in four games, a 0.47 goals-against-average and a .963 save percentage. 

Games in the 2019 Schmalz Cup finals series were as follows:

Game 1: April 19 - Napanee Raiders 2, Grimsby Peach Kings 0 (Napanee leads series 1-0)
Game 2: April 21 – Grimsby Peach Kings 3, Napanee Raiders 2 (Series tied 1-1) 
Game 3: April 26 – Napanee Raiders 3, Grimsby Peach Kings 1 (Napanee leads series 2-1)
Game 4: April 28 – Napanee Raiders 4, Grimsby Peach Kings 1 (Napanee leads series 3-1)
Game 5: April 30 - Napanee Raiders 3, Grimsby Peach Kings 1 (Napanee wins series 4-1)

EAST PLAYOFF TEAM STATISTICS
Record: 12-0-0
Win percentage: 1,000 per cent
Goals for: 48
Goals against: 15
Power play percentage: 16.39 per cent (6th in PJHL)
Penalty-kill percentage: 88.33 per cent (2nd in PJHL)

SCHMALZ CUP TEAM STATISTICS
Record: 8-1-0
Win percentage: .889 per cent
Goals for: 38
Goals against: 13
Power play percentage: 14.55 per cent (3rd in Schmalz Cup)
Penalty-kill percentage: 90.32 (1st in Schmalz Cup)

EAST PLAYOFF LEADERS 
Forward: Ryan Casselman - GP: 12 - G: 10 - A: 7 - PTS: 17
Forward:  Reid Humphrey - GP: 11 - G: 6 - A: 4 - PTS: 10
Forward: Liam Mroueh  - GP: 11 - G: 8 - A: 1 - PTS: 9
Defence: Matthew Panetta - GP: 9 - G: 1 - A: 2 - PTS: 3
Goaltender: Nicholas Nabuurs - GP: 9 - Record: 8-1-0 - G.A.A. 1.45 - Sv%: .933 

SCHMALZ CUP PLAYOFF LEADERS 
Forward: Ryan Casselman - GP: 9 - G: 8 - A: 5 - PTS: 13
Forward:  Cameron Harris - GP: 9 - G: 5 - A: 5 - PTS: 10
Forward: Dayton Kent  - GP: 9 - G: 1 - A: 8 - PTS: 9
Defence: Curtis Marrison  - GP: 9 - G: 2 - A: 1 - PTS: 3
Goaltender: Nicholas Nabuurs - GP: 9 - Record: 8-1-0 - G.A.A. 1.45 - Sv%: .933