NEWS

Tyler Ignazzitto of Trenton (right) and Whitby’s Carson Gallagher battle during a face-off in their OJHL game at Duncan McDonald Memorial Gardens in Trenton Friday. (Photo by Amy Deroche / OJHL Images)

BY RON VALENTINE

After Week 2 of the Ontario Junior Hockey League season, the leading clubs are 3-0-0 Aurora Tigers the and 2-0 Trenton Golden Hawks. Cobourg has three wins and an overtime defeat (.875), Kingston has two victories and an overtime loss (.833), Oakville with a 4-1 record (.800) are next followed by the Wellington with 3 wins, 1 loss and an OT loss (.700) and the Toronto Junior Canadiens, Whitby, Milton and North York are all at .667.

 

MONDAY- The Cobourg Cougars got off to a winning start in their home opener edging the Brampton Admirals 3-2 led by two goals from George Miranda, one shorthanded, and the game winner by Ethan Doyle. For the visitors, Rocco Andreacchi and Hudson Lambert got pucks past Dershahn Stewart who made 27 saves for the win. The rookie 'keeper from Amhertsburg played his last two seasons for the GOJHL's LaSalle Vipers. Two for two for the Cougars and the Admirals fall to 0-3.

 

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WEDNESDAY- The Port Credit Arena, celebrating its 60th anniversary was the venue as the Mississauga Chargers had their season opener against the Toronto Patriots. Both teams had lost their first games. Veteran forward Brandon Yeamans returned to the Chargers with a bang, leading the way with two goals, his first one shorthanded, and an added an assist in their 7-3 victory. The home side broke the game wide open with five goals in the second period. Veteran goalie Luca Durante took the win saving 24 Patriots' shots. Michael Boushy and Brett Bannister had a goal and an assist each for the visitors.

 

The Buffalo Junior Sabres (0-1) had their season home opener against the 1-1 Buzzers and their sophomore goaltender Jeremy Forman came within 51 seconds of a shutout when Matteo Di Giulio, ex- of the Junior Canadiens and Milton Icehawks, got one past him for the 3-1 final. The Sabres' rookie Alec Cicero had two goals, the last one into the empty Buzzers net. Jack Watson made 36 stops for St. Michael's.

 

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THURSDAY- All three games played were decided by one goal, with the visiting team winning them all.

 

The Cobourg Cougars, were the opposition in Kingston's first home game of the campaign, and the Vees went in with a 2-0 record. The visitors prevailed 3-2 thanks to a double overtime goal by Riley McCutcheon. The home team forced the extra time on an Andrew Kim tally with just 36 seconds left in the third. No goals in the first two periods.  

Jamie Engelbert and Alex Mercier had the other Cobourg goals while Troy Bowditch scored for Kingston. Dershahn Stewart made 33 save to record the win while the Vees' Alexei Masanko, stopping 32, took the loss.

 

The Stouffville Spirit, searching for win No. 1 on the new season, hosted the 2-0 Wellington Dukes. No goals for the first two periods in this one before Andrew Rinaldi got the Dukes on the board just 23 seconds into the final frame. Ryan Smith scored as Stouffville had the extra attacker inside the last two minutes and then the dramatic game winner with one second left on the timer was an unassisted tally from Nick Abbott for the 2-1 final. Olivier Lafreniere saved 26 shots for the win while Andrew Albano repelled 37. A tough loss for the home side and three in a row for the East Division leaders.

 

The Hurricanes of Newmarket launched their season at the Bobby Forhan rink at the Magna Centre due to upgrading at the Ray Twinney. In the local derby, the Aurora Tigers were the visitors in the first game of the season for both teams. Joseph Mizzi scored 39 seconds into the game for the Tigers and he tabbed the overtime winner in the second session. Final 3-2 Aurora. The clubs exchanged goals in each of the first and second periods. Rookie goaltender Christian Fillipetti made his OJHL debut a winning one kicking out 27 Hurricane shots. Newmarket 'keeper Kristian Hufsky made a like number of saves in the OT loss.

 

The game between Burlington and Milton had to be rescheduled to a later date.

 

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FRIDAY- The last two of the league's 22 clubs got their first game in tonight with the Trenton Golden Hawks hosting Whitby and the Lindsay Muskies at home to Brampton plus five other games. 

 

The 'Hawks got off to a good start winning 3-1 with opening and closing goals by Tiger McDonald. Ex-Pembroke Lumber King Peter Falivena had the game winner. Patrick Demaio had the Fury's lone marker. Mackenzie Warren had two assists for the winners and recently acquired goalkeeper Ben Allard-Robitaille got off to a good start saving 21 shots to post the victory.

 

Jack Ricketts netted his third and fourth goals of the young season and rookie Ryan O'Hara added a pair, his second and third, as the Blades came out of Markham with a 4-1 advantage at the final buzzer. For the Royals, Christos Rodis got one past Will Barber who stopped the other 33 shots. The win moved the West Division-leading club to 3-0.

 

The 'Battle of Yonge Street' continued in Aurora and the Tigers 'did the double' beating Newmarket 4-1. Goalie Jack Irvine came up just short in his shutout bid when Claudio Degasperis scored inside the last three minutes of the contest. Joseph Mizzi got the game winner in this one. Jacob Ball, Michael Palandra and Evan Spencer got the other Tigers' tallies.

 

The Milton Icehawks, as they have to be known for now, made the tip to Wellington and stunned the Dukes in a 7-5 goal fest. Trevor LeDonne led the way with the hat trick, including the game winner, with his first goal tying the game at fours in the second period and he also added an assist. Jordan Stock had two goals in his debut, one shorthanded, and Bryan Zurowski had a goal and three points. In the second frame the visitors outscored Wellington 4-1. Tyson Gilmour had a goal and two assists for the home team.

 

The visiting Buffalo Junior Sabres edged the Panthers 4-3 in Pickering with super-sniper Adam Tretowicz netting a pair, the second one, the game winner, shorthanded. Both of the Panthers scores came on the powerplay off the sticks of Daniel Ebrahim and Nathan Gooch. William Tragge registered the victory in his first OJHL start and Alec Cicero got his third goal of the season. With the victory, the Sabres moved up to two wins and one loss.

 

The Brampton Admirals found the win column,5-3 in Lindsay spoiling the home and season opener for the Muskies. Maxwell Steeves broke a 3-3 tie early in the final frame and then got an empty netter to put it away. The home side were down 3-0 in the second before mounting the comeback that ultimately fell short. Chagrin Falls, Ohio blueliner Ryan Herpy had a goal and two helpers for the winners. For Lindsay, rookie Ryan Callan had a goal and two points.

 

The St. Michael's Buzzers moved to 2-2 on the season with a 5-2 home win over Misssissauga. It took just 47 seconds for Ryan Alexander to get them on the board and they did not look back. Matteo DiGiulio had the decider. Colton Trumbla had his fourth of the campaign.

 

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SATURDAY- The 3-0 Blades travelled to Aurora to test the 2-0 Tigers; Georgetown had their home opener with the Rangers as the opposition; the Cougars of Cobourg hosted the Junior Canadiens and the Cougars of Burlington welcomed Markham.

 

The Tigers moved to 3-0 and stopped Oakville's perfect record in the process with a 3-2 win on a late third period score by Evan Spencer, the second of the season for the forward who played for the Tigers before moving to the NOJHL's Elliot Lake Wildcats and the NAHL's Aberdeen Wings (South Dakota). Tyler Davis and Hollander Thompson had the other goals for the home side while Spencer Kersten and Tanner McEachern replied for the Blades. Jake Irvine posted the win making 21 saves. President Jim Thomson lauded his GM Dermot Anderson and entire coaching and scouting crew for putting together the current squad after losing a lot of talent from last season. "Goalkeeping will be strong again this time with Jack Irvine returning and prospect Christian Filippetti coming in" noted the boss "and keep an eye out for (forward) Hollander Thompson, 17, and his brother (defenceman) Dash, 18, who worked with Paul Coffey in the off-season in Muskoka; Hollander is a 6'3" winger who plays with an edge", he says. They played in Langley B.C. last season.

 

Twenty-year old defenceman Alec Tiley, who played for the Wellington Dukes, Trenton Golden Hawks, Weeks Crushers (MHL) and the Amhertsview Jets last season, was the overtime hero for the Raiders with his goal in the second session that gave them the 2-1 win over North York in overtime. Matt McJannet's powerplay goal in the second gave Georgetown the advantage but Graydon Gottschalk got that one back early in the third. Tiley's former teammate with Trenton, Carson Poulin, was the winning 'keeper stopping 27 Rangers' shots.

 

Brock Welsh scored two goals and added an assist, Brodie McDougall had a goal and three helpers and Riley McCutcheon a goal and two assists as Cobourg took their seventh point out of a possible eight and handed the J.C's their first loss with a 7-4 win. The home team built up a 5-1 lead near the end of the second. Matthew Falls had two for the visitors including one on the powerplay. Dershahn Stewart was kept busy making 31 saves in the win. "Remember it's a marathon not a sprint" cautions the Cougars' GM Adam Yahn. "We still have not played a full 60-minute game but we have had strong contributions for returning players and excellent goaltending. We are looking for Adam Keyes (a veteran GOJHL centre) to make his debut soon, he was injured in the preseason". The Cougars just picked up ex-Burlington goalie Noah Featherstonhaugh-Gowe. "We have had Noah circled on out target list for some time,” says Adam, "it gives us that flexibility in goal, we found out last season and at the RBC Cup that you are only as good as your goaltender". 

 

The Royals scored bookends of three goals in the first and the last three of the game and in between Burlington had five straight without reply. Yes, it was a weird game! A 6-5 victory for Markham, their first of the season. Nick Giunta led the way for the visitors with two goals and an assist and Devyn Mayea scored once and had two assists. Matthew Hobbs had the hat trick for Burlington. The Royals big three comeback goals were scored in a span of two minutes and twenty two seconds with two of those coming on the powerplay with Alessio Luciani getting the game winner. Burlington Head Coach Mark Jooris told me "We definitely have some good things to build on but we need to become much more consistent and difficult to play against. We are finding our way".

 

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SUNDAY- The 3-1 Dukes hosted the Admirals; the 3-1 Blades were in Buffalo; Georgetown headed to Trenton with memories of the 2017 Dudley-Hewitt Cup still remembered by several Raider players plus three other games were on the slate.

 

In Wellington, the Dukes never led in their game against Brampton but did get one point in a 5-4 2OT loss. Aaron Dickson, the former Powassan Voodoo, had the winner for the Admirals who move to 2-3 while the home team goes to 3-1-0-1. Michael Hill had two for Brampton and blueliner Hudson Lambert registered a goal and four points. Matt Lukic saved 36 for the win. Madoka Suzuki had two goals, including a shorthanded one in the second period, for the Dukes while rookie Jacob Vreugdenhil's third period goal forced the extra time. Admirals' Head Coach Justin Teakle had this to say after the game...

"I am happy with the progression of our team after a slow start last week. Our level of competition has been good to start the season and a very early test for our club. After more practice and consistency our group is getting more comfortable with each other and building some chemistry. Our lines have been constantly changing to find that chemistry. Our leadership group of Hudson Lambert as Captain, Capone, Vernace and Boniauto have done a great job pushing our younger guys in the right direction. We are beyond excited to get the season rolling."

 

At the Herb Carnegie arena, North York and Mississauga traded a couple of powerplay goals each in the first 40 minutes before the Rangers, following two overtime losses, registered their first win by a 4-2 count. Two goals for Tyler Flack and Ross Krieger were good enough for the two points. Brandon Yeamans and Paul Violo scored for the Chargers. Rookie 'keeper Eli Shiller and veteran Jett Alexander shared the win.

 

At the Memorial arena in Milton, the Icehawks (Brantford 99ers) played their third game and took their first loss, 5-2 to Newmarket (1-1-0-1). Adam Trotman had a big game for

for the victors with two goals and an assist. Kleinburg's Kristian Hufsky was big in the net for the Hurricanes making 39 stops, sixteen in the second period. Nick Cirone had Newmarket's second goal with just one tick left in the opening stanza to give them the 2-1 advantage. Sheldon Nolan, with the game winner and Graeme McCrory, into the empty net completed the scoring for the road team. Bryan Zurowski, with the man advantage and Deaglan Small had the Milton goals.

 

The Blades went goal wild in Buffalo and by the time the ice chips had settled it was a 9-0 margin. Will Barber posted the league's first shutout stopping 22 shots. Harrison Israels had two goals and three points. Marc Shannon and Davis Young had a goal and two assists each and even Barber chipped in with a pair of assists. Of Oakville's 32 shots 15 came in the first period in which they built a 5-0 lead. They have now outscored the opposition 25-9 over five games with Israels leading with five. Fourteen players have at least one. Head Coach Mike Tarantino had this to say after the blowout- "I'm happy with the team's start to the season. There was a large turnover with guys moving to U Sports and to the NCAA but we managed to recruit and add a great group of hockey players and people. Our returning players have done a tremendous job setting the culture for the new guys to follow. We are really looking forward to the rest of the season".

 

The score from Trenton- Dylan McMahon 3 Georgetown Raiders 2. The Kanata native who had  46 goals for the NOJHL's Blind River Beavers  joined the Golden Hawks and he has made a quick impact in his just his second game. He scored one goal in each period while Jordan Crocker got the first Raiders' tally while playing shorthanded early in the final period and Derek Mcvey shortened the lead with just over two minutes remaining. Ben Allard-Robitaille stopped the other 24 shots on goal. Steven Elliott assisted on the each of the Trenton goals.

 

The Junior Canadiens took their third win of the season beating the Buzzers 5-2. Matthew Falls had two goals for the second game in a row and now has five on the campaign. In this contest he had the game winner and an empty netter. He should very soon pass the seven he netted last season. For the winners Eric Ciccolini and Jason Pineo both had a goal and an assist and Matt Mayhew posted his second win of the season stopping 26.

Junior Canadiens Head Coach Jeff Angelidis despite being happy with his club's start noted- "Our group needs to be more consistent over the 60-minute contest. We play well in spurts and then take our foot off the gas, plus we seem to give up late goals in the last two minutes of periods." 

 

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Next: Week No. 3, 18 games are on the docket. The annual OJHL Governors’ Showcase Tournament gets underway Monday, Sept. 24, in Buffalo.