NEWS

Cooper Bertrand of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens celebrates after scoring what would prove to be the game-winning goal at Scotiabank Pond in Toronto Saturday. The host Canadiens opened the best-of-three OJHL South Division final with a 4-2 win over the North York Rangers. (Photo by Paul Mauceri / OJHL Images)

BY RON VALENTINE

The second round of the Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs got underway on two fronts with the Toronto Junior Canadiens, top seed in the South, hosting the second-seeded North York Rangers and in Burlington, the Cougars, seeded No. 1 in the West, starting their series at home against the Milton Menace who finished just two points behind them in second place. 

At the ScotiaBank Pond in Downsview, the host Junior Canadiens doubled up on the Rangers 4-2. Aydin Parekh got the visitors rolling in the first period. Fellow defenceman Hayden Heinrich tied the game early in period two and less than a minute later Ben Van Waterschoot put the J.C.s in front. Just after the midpoint of the contest, Daniel Baldassarra tied it up at twos with a shorthanded goal but Cooper Bertrand, who led all defencemen in regular season goal scoring with 15, netted the game winner. He got his second into the vacant Rangers' net. Tyler Fukakusa had two assists for the winners. Selby Warren repelled 35 shots to record the victory. Game 2 of the series goes Tuesday afternoon in North York.

Ahead of the game in Burlington, Cougars Head Coach Mark Jooris looking at the upcoming series: "There definitely should not be any surprises. I think whoever can stay on an even keel and not start to show any nerves will come out on top. Should be a battle!"

Milton captain Jordan Stock noted before the contest: "In our series against Georgetown, we had a very strong second game. We have guys with a lot of experience that helped pull us through. We have played the Cougars nine times this season so there is not much we don't know about each other. We have to continue to concentrate on the small details that make the difference in a game. We did not get off to a fast start in the regular season but almost caught the Cougars at the end. We are not too worried about home ice advantage since our rinks are quite similar. Our fans have been great all season and we will have a big following for Game 1. We have everyone fit and ready to play. We know we have to be more disciplined now than we were at times in the regular season, where we had the best PK percentage (Milton 90.49%, Collingwood 90.48), and we did that against the Raiders. We get excellent coaching from Dan (Del Monte) and the staff and everyone knows their role so we are going in with a lot of confidence and determination."

In a game that had everything, the visiting Menace topped the Cougars 4-3 in overtime before 569 fans at the Central Arena, with a goodly contingent of Menace supporters on hand. Once again it was blueliners doing the early scoring with Kaleb Tiessen putting the Cougars in front in the first frame and Alessandro Petreccia replying for the Menace in the second. Jack Richard sent the Cougars into the dressing room after 40 minutes with a 2-1 lead. Only 23 seconds had elapsed in the third when Jordan Stock lifted the Menace back into a tie at 2-2. Matthew Zebedee got the home side in front again in the third on the powerplay. But then less than two minutes later, blueliner Thomas Gordon's goal drew the visitors level. In the overtime the hero would be Tyler Amaral, another defenceman, who scored just shy of six minutes in just after their power play  had expired.  For the Cougars, Matthew Riva had two assists. The forward had 69 points in the GOJHL regular season for the Niagara Falls Canucks. The second game goes in Milton on Tuesday evening.

The other two division finals begin today:

In the East, Haliburton County hosts Cobourg in Minden beginning at 2 p.m. The game is sold out.

Collingwood visits Pickering to open the North Division final. Puck drops at 6:30 p.m.