NEWS

Needless to say it was a rough week for the OJHL west division as they combined to go 1-4-2 in non-divisional games. Other than Georgetown’s win over Pickering the only other victories for the division were Buffalo over Orangeville and Hamilton over Georgetown. With the Governors' Showcase coming up it is a perfect time for the division to turn things around and showcase its strength.
(pictured - Kneulman's West Division first star of the week - Pat Egan of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres - photo credit: Ken Czworka/OJHL Images)

Game of the Week Review: Georgetown Raiders 5-3 Hamilton Red Wings
For the second week in a row the OJHL west game of the week review takes us to Georgetown as this week the Raiders took on the upstart Hamilton Red Wings. What looked like a mismatch on paper at the beginning of the season started changing after the first week as the Red Wings came into this one with a 2-0 record against West Division opponents and the Raiders had failed to live up to their lofty pre-season rankings.  The first period however, was played as if it were planned in the pre-season with Georgetown buzzing the net and peppering Hamilton goalie Corey Foster with 17 shots on goal. Anthony Marra was able to cash in on one of those chances to put Georgetown up by one in the first half of the opening stanza. Luckily for the Red Wings, Foster brought his “A” game and that was all the Raiders were able to muster. Late in the first period however, the most exciting play in hockey occurred as the Red Wings were awarded a penalty shot, although they were unable to convert and the Raiders entered the first intermission up 1-0.

The second period the Red Wings kept it a lot closer. After being out shot 17-10 in period one, Georgetown was only able to muster a 10-9 shot advantage in the second. Just before the halfway mark Niko Porikos got Hamilton on the board to tie it at one. The teams would exchange goals in the latter half of the period with Hamilton’s coming in the dreaded final minute and we were deuces wild. Tied at two’s through two periods of play.

The third period the Raiders were all over the Red Wings outshooting them by a 16-7 margin. Unfortunately for the hometown team this onslaught did not deter the visiting Red Wings as they took their first lead of the game inside two minutes. While the Raiders were able to tie things back up at three the Red Wings retook the lead for good as Christian DiGiacinto notched his fifth in four games with ’97 born rookie Josh Chiarot picking up his second assist in as many games. The Red Wings would add an empty netter and skate out of Georgetown with a 5-3 win.

You can’t help but be impressed with this Red Wings team. After winning only four times in regulation last year they have already notched three such wins this season with all three coming against divisional opponents. Who knows what the rest of the season has in store, but this is a team that I can see getting better and better as the year goes on.

Game of the Week Preview: Milton @ Toronto Lakeshore – Saturday, September 27th 8:00
After having all of week two off, the Icehawks have three games in week three. What makes this match against TLP special is the potential goalie match-up. With Ben Blacker entrenched as the starting goalie in Milton and Jeremy Helvig getting time in net for TLP you could see a matchup of the top 16-year old goalies in the OJHL. To top it all off, this game has a prime time slot of 8pm at the Governors' Showcase in Oakville. While it may be a mismatch when looking at the standings, this potential goalie match-up makes it a must see for sure.

3 Stars of the Week
3. Corey Foster –Hamilton Red Wings
The Hamilton native picked up his second win of the season in a 40 save effort against division rival Georgetown.
2. Peter Angelopoulos – Orangeville Flyers
The Orangeville trigger man added 4 goals and 2 assists in 3 games during week 2 and has now scored in all 6 games he has played this season. If only the Flyers could find some secondary scoring.
1. Pat Egan – Buffalo Jr. Sabres
In Buffalo’s only game of the week, Pat picked up a goal (game-winner) and an assist in leading the Jr. Sabres to a 7-3 win over Orangeville.

Rookie of the Week
Josh Chiarot – Hamilton Red Wings
The ’97 born rookie and Hamilton Huskies Alum quickly made his presence felt for the Hamilton Red Wings as he picked up two assists in two games. Josh assisted on the only Hamilton goal Monday against Kingston and on the game-winner against Georgetown on Wednesday.
Honourable mention: Denis Gilbert – Buffalo Jr. Sabres: 2 assists in 1 game.

Team of the Week:
Buffalo Jr. Sabres
Well it was a rough week for the West Division as the Buffalo Jr. Sabres were the only team to go undefeated. Yes, even though it was only one game and it happened to come against last place Orangeville, it was still enough for me to edge them over the Hamilton Red Wings who get the honourable mention for a second week in a row.

It was a balanced attack that led the way for Buffalo as they scored seven goals against Orangeville and no player had more than two points in the game. With two games this week; one against the vaunted Trenton Golden Hawks and a showdown with Mississauga in the Governors' Showcase, the Jr. Sabres will be needing some more of that balanced scoring.

Peter Kneulman covers the OJHL's West Division for www.intheoradio.com