NEWS

(pictured - Toronto Jr. Canadiens forward Nicholas Jarzabek had an impressive week that saw him selected by Brandon Sudeyko as the South Division Star of the Week - photo credit:  Andy Corneau/OJHL Images)

Game of the Week Review:
Toronto Jr Canadiens 2-4 Mississauga Chargers F
Not only was this game a benefit game for breast cancer awareness, it was a big win for Mississauga.
It may have been the energy of the crowd, maybe not wanting to disappoint the honourees, Dragon’s Abreast Dragon Boat Team (http://www.dragonsabreast.ca), but the Chargers came out super charged and pressed instantly. Early on in the first period the Jr. Canadiens looked flatter than Gingerale sitting on the counter in an open bottle for a day. Mississauga struck after 5 minutes with Captain Stefano Alonzi bringing the crowd to their feet with the opening goal. Mississauga continued their momentum and turned it into a 2-0 lead after 12 minutes of play. It was after the second goal that Toronto woke up and began to play hard and pushed to get at least a goal back. It made for a great ending to the first period.

The second began and the Jr. Canadiens put the Chargers on their back heels and were rewarded with their pressure. Andrew Pucci got Toronto on the board after 3 minutes of play. The one goal lead was quickly extended back to a 2 goal lead by Thomas Lattavo who scores The Chargers power play goal of the night and made it 3-2. The rest of the second would be a back and forth period with the Jr. Canadiens trying to get back into the game. The period would be filled with a lot of penalties but the Jr. Canadiens would not get their second goal of the game before the period ended.

In the third, the Jr. Canadiens were pressing while it seemed like Mississauga was content just dumping the puck and playing a zone defence. After 6 minutes into the third, Thomas Lattavo would add an insurance goal and make it 4-2. Toronto kicked it into high gear now that they were two goals down with 13 minutes left in the game. After a couple minutes Toronto’s Kevin Hancock slides the puck past Lepore and it is a 2 goal game with 10 minutes left in regulation. From there, Toronto kept pressing and almost broke the Chargers defence a few times. But with the final horn, the Chargers skated to centre ice and raised their sticks in their 4-2 victory.

Game of the Week Preview:
St. Michaels’ Buzzers v Trenton Golden Hawks Sunday December 7th 2pm
The Buzzers are currently in 6th (as of Monday morning) in the South West Conference while the Golden Hawks are sitting 2nd in the North East Conference. This is a mismatch on paper, but the Buzzers have been able to compete with anyone all season. The team is rounding into form and are backstopped by arguably the best goalie in the league in George Argiropoulos.
The forwards have been lead by their veterans while the rookies and younger statesmen have been learning how to play 60 minutes every game.

Trenton is on a roll and that is how you can sum up their dominance in the league this season. 21-6-1-1 is the second best record in the league and the complete game of the Golden Hawks will be a huge test for the Buzzers as they attempt to stop a 20 goal scorer in Brady Wiffen and 7 players with over 20 points this season, including two defenceman.
At the very least it will be a competitive game where the Buzzers can show what they have in the tank after a few months of play this season.

Star of the Week
Nick Jarzabek – Toronto Jr. Canadiens
The Jr. Canadiens played two games this week and although Jarzabek was held pointless against the Chargers on Saturday night, he was flying and denied a goal couple of times. The following game, Sunday afternoon v North York, Jarzabek was able to find his scoring touch, notching 2 goals and earning 3 points in the team’s 4-2 victory including the game winner.

Rookie of the Week
Will Reilly – North York Rangers
Well this seems like a two horse rookie race in the South Division now with another weekly honour going to the Rangers rookie blueliner. After a 7 game point streak, Reilly was blanked for two games before netting a goal and an assist in two games this past week. Reilly now has 9 goals and 20 points in 26 games this season as he earned his third Rookie of the week honour in the last 5 weeks.

Brandon Sudeyko covers the OJHL South Division for In The O... and more articles by the author can be found at intheoradio.com. In The O...goes beyond conventional coverage of junior hockey providing unprecedented coverage of Minor Midget, OJHL, CCHL and the OHL.