NEWS

The South-West Conference regular season champion Buffalo Jr. Sabres completed a four game sweep of the Burlington Cougars and now await the completion of the three other quarter-final match-ups.

Buffalo 6 vs. Burlington 2 - Buffalo wins series 4-0
(pictured - Buffalo and Burlington collided for the final time this season on Sunday night - photo credit: Tim Bates/OJHL Images)
The Buffalo Jr. Sabres completed a four-game sweep of the Burlington Cougars by taking Game Four, 6-2, at the Wave Twin Rinks in Burlington, Ontario.  Tyler Gjurich and Nolan Sheeran both scored twice for the Jr. Sabres, while Pat Egan scored Buffalo's first goal of the game and Brian Ruff put the series on ice with his empty-netter late in the third.  The Cougars played with the desperation needed in their effort to stay alive and took the first lead of the game just seconds into the first period.  Twice they held the lead, with Buffalo not jumping into its first lead until the second period.  Parker Gahagen was solid in the Buffalo net making several clutch saves including two breakaways.  Bobby Bloomfield took his place late in the third period, stopping all shots he faced (editors note - scorekeeper inadvertently missed the goalie change - Gahagen did not play the full 60 minutes.  Bloomfield entered the game with about three and a half minutes remaining).  Buffalo now awaits its second round opponent, which could be either the Oakville Blades, North York Rangers or Toronto Lakeshore Patriots, depending on the conclusion of other playoff series still in progress.  The second round is tentatively scheduled to begin the week of March 11.
For a full game summary, please CLICK HERE.

St. Michael's 3 vs. Toronto 2 - St. Michael's leads series 3-1
Continuing the hard-fought, tight-checking series, the St. Michael's Buzzers took full command with a 3-2 victory and are now one game away from round two.  The two teams would trade goals during the second half of the first period, with first Matthew Nosella scoring for the Jr. Canadiens, followed by Troy Josephs for the Buzzers.  Just 42 seconds into the second frame, Buzzers leading playoff scorer Shane Conacher notched an unassisted marker and netminder Adrian Ignagni would turn aside 11 shots to take their slim one goal lead into the third.  Early in the final period, Robert Cammalleri knotted the game at two and the score would hold until Stephen Pietrobon beat Nathan Colitto for the game-winner at the 12:04 mark.  The pivotal game five in the series takes place on Tuesday, March 5 at St. Michael's College School Arena with puck drop at 7:30pm.
For a full game summary, please CLICK HERE.

North York 5 vs. Oakville 2 - North York leads series 2-1
Quickly becoming an intense rivalry, the North York Rangers hosted the Oakville Blades in game three of their best-of-seven series and continued the trend of home team victories by taking a 5-2 decision, led by their two star forwards John Carpino and Corey Kalk.  It was Taylor Pryce who would open the scoring with the only goal in the first period, and Oakville's Rory Bell would answer back with the only goal in the second.  North York broke the game open early in the third period, scoring two goals in just over two minutes and adding their fourth of the game before the period was half over.  The teams would trade goals in final six minutes for the 5-2 final score.  Jason Pucciarelli took home first star honours with a 24 save performance between the pipes and the series now shifts back to Oakville with game for taking place on Tuesday, March 5 at 7:30pm.
For a full game summary, please CLICK HERE.