Mitchell Morrison and his Burlington Cougars teammates celebrate one of his two goals during the Cougars’ 10-0 win over the Buffalo Jr Sabres at Haborcenter in Buffalo Wednesday. At 5-0, Burlington has the best record in the OJHL. (Spencer Smye / OJHL Images)

BY RON VALENTINE

Coming out of Week 2 of the 2019-20 Ontario Junior Hockey League season are four clubs with perfect records: The West Division Burlington Cougars with five wins; the East's Wellington Dukes with four and the West's Oakville Blades and the North Division's Markham Royals with three apiece. Here's a look at the week that was...

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MONDAY night so it must be Cobourg and the Cougars met up with East Division rivals, the Whitby Fury. The Cougars nursed a 2-1 lead into the late stages of the game until rookie Stephan McDonald got their third in the contest's last minute. A goal by the Fury's Amedeo Mastrangeli with 11 seconds left made it a 3-2 home win. 

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WEDNESDAY- The first regulation time goalless draw came in just Game 17 of the season as the Mississauga Chargers and Georgetown Raiders ended 0-0 after 60 minutes in Port Credit. Ten extra minutes could not produce a goal either. Shutouts by the Chargers' Jack Irvine (43 saves) and for the Raiders' Nathan Torchia, who stopped 33. Jack talked about the 'goose egg' game: "It was the first time in my Junior career that I have been involved in a 0-0 game. It was really cool because Torchia is a buddy of mine since Major Midget and we are now 1-1-1 against each other in our careers." Raiders’ coach Scott McCrory, who played in the OHL and professionally from 1984-2001: "I've been involved in just one other 0-0 game before. In this one, both goalies were great." 

One-way traffic in Buffalo where the Burlington Cougars got their third win in three tries, scoring four times in the first and second periods en route to a 10-0 win. The shutout went to Max Wright, saving 35 shots. Mitchell Morrison and Brendan Rylott each found the net twice and ex-Markham Royal blueliner Patrick Klazer notched five helpers. Joel Holtrop netted his second shorthanded goal of the season. Despite the scoreline the Junior Sabres outshot the Cougars 35-33. I asked the Cougars captain Matt Hobbs if he was surprised by the final score: "Yes I was, but I will say we played a very strong game in both ends and lots of props to Max Wright between the pipes."

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THURSDAY- It was a rematch for the Oakville Blades and the Brantford '99ers but this time the action was at the Wayne Gretzky Centre for the '99ers' home opener. Walter Gretzky was on hand to drop the puck for the ceremonial faceoff. Harrison Israels led the way with two goals and ex-Newmarket Hurricane Jacob King got one shorthanded as the Blades 'did the double winning' 5-2. Ryan O'Hara got them off to a quick start scoring just 27 seconds into the contest. ‘Captain Jack' Ricketts had three assists and former Chatham Maroon goalie Adam Harris registered his first OJHL victory. The line of Ricketts, Israels and O'Hara accounted for eight points on the night. 

Israels, who is committed to NCAA D1 Alaska Fairbanks next season had this to say: "It's going to be a good year. We have a lot of skill mixed with a good work ethic. Our goalies are both very talented as has been shown in preseason and regular games so far. Should be a good year once again."

The Aurora Tigers had their 52nd annual home opener against the Brampton Admirals and this was a close one all the way through. Michael Hill tabbed the game winner with 40 seconds remaining in the visitors' 5-3 victory. Rookie goaltender Sean Wu got his first OJHL win. Storage Wars Canada star Ursula Stolf had a meet-and-greet with fans. 

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FRIDAY THE 13TH -  The Collingwood Colts were looking to go 3-for-3 in their inaugural in season in their home opener versus the Junior Canadiens but the South Division club had other ideas in front of a full house, over 1,300 jammed the building, at the Eddie Bush arena coming out on the good side of the 7-1 final with Claudio DeGasperis, ex-Newmarket Hurricane and Thomas McKeown, obtained from the Oakville Blades, scoring their first goals in the red and white and veteran Matthew Falls bookended the game's goals. Matthew Di Cesare had a shorthanded marker in the third.

The East Division Cobourg Cougars and the Dukes took 2-0 records into their meeting in Wellington and the home team would prevail in this one led by Jacob Vruegdenhil, both of which came in Period 1. Jake Gagnon, the game's first star, had a goal and two helpers for the winners.

The Menace, looking for their first win entertained the Whitby Fury in Milton but it was not to be as the visitors chalked up their first victory winning 7-2. Brooklin's Daniel Ebrahim, obtained from Pickering in an eight-player trade in June, set the pace for the Fury with two goals and four points. For Milton, Ryan O'Donnell scored on a penalty shot late in the second period.

The Trenton Golden Hawks welcomed the St. Michael's Buzzers into the 'Hangar'. It was the third of four games in a row at home to kick off the campaign for the 'Hawks. It was 2-2 after one, 3-3 after two followed by a scoreless third and for the second time this season in three games played the Buzzers fell in the extra time with sophomore Griffen Fox connecting early in the second session in the 4-3 final. Dalton Bancroft had two for Trenton and Tyler Ignazzitto

recorded three assists.

With new Head Coach Rob Pearson behind the bench for the Panthers two winless clubs who were looking for victory number one tangled in Pickering as the Stouffville Spirit were the visitors. All three goals in this contest came via the powerplay route with the Spirit's Bailey Kirwin scoring the winner midway through the game. Tanner McEachern scored his first since coming over in the off-season from the Oakville Blades and Damon Beaver had to make 31 saves for the 2-1 win.

The Markham Royals (1-0) visited the 0-3 Lindsay Muskies and came away with a big 8-3 victory. Zac Sirota scored twice for the visitors who scored four times in both the second and third frames. Lindsay's Noah Vandervinne was in on all of their goals scoring once and adding two assists. Sault Ste. Marie-born goalkeeper Garrett Boyonoski took the win in his debut and former Leamington Flyer Michael Andrews had a shorthanded tally.

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SATURDAY - The Cobourg Cougars and the Raiders fought to a 2-2 overtime tie in Georgetown. Veteran Mac Lowry's early second period goal (just 41 seconds in) made it 2-0 for the visitors but rookie Nolan Lowe's first OJHL goal narrowed their advantage and Mitch Hewitson's goal 49 seconds into the third tied it up. Both Raider goals came with them enjoying the man-advantage. Dershahn Stewart was the busier goalie making 52 saves while the Raiders' Alex Vendette, in his first OJHL contest, saved 29. It was the Raiders’ second tie in three games.

The Toronto Patriots went to 2-0 winning 4-1 in Mississauga. It was the Chargers' first loss of the season. It took just 49 seconds for ex-Burlington Cougar Josiah Degazon to put the visitors in front and he would get his second, this time on the powerplay, early in the third. Josh Bifolchi got the Chargers' only marker with 30 seconds left in the game.

The Burlington Cougars upped their record to four wins and no losses beating the Stouffville Spirit 4-1 at the Appleby. Matthew Giannini had the game winner in this one and Harrison Cottam had a goal for the winners giving him nine points for the campaign to lead the League at this early stage. Rookie Zach Dietz posted his second OJHL win stopping two dozen shots.

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SUNDAY - A battle of the North between the Royals and the Tigers in Markham. Down 2-0 after two periods, the Royals scored a whopping six times in the final frame led by three goals from veteran Vincent Bonaiuto to take the 6-2 win. Four assists went to Quentin Martellacci. Vincent started the comeback just eight seconds into the period. Vince on the comeback: "Coach Mike (Galati) gave us a great speech and the boys rallied after we scored eight seconds in. We rolled with the momentum and never looked back." With the victory the Royals improve to 3 and 0. The Head Coach retorted: "You'd like to think it was what I said to them but really we just started bearing down on pucks and got to a really good goalie who had stopped us for the first 40 minutes. We had a great shift to start the third and built off it. Obviously, a good win for us, coming back like that is always nice, it builds some character."

Two GTA teams faced off in St. Michael's with the Buzzers hosting the Chargers and again this was a comeback story with Mississauga, down 3-0 after one, coming back to get four in the second stanza en route to a 6-5 overtime win. The hero of the extra time was Matthew Sop. It was the 16-year-old Kitchener native's first OJHL goal. Nicholas Beaupre tabbed two goals within 33 seconds of each other early in the second period to move the Chargers to within one at that point. The win gives them a 2-1-1 record.

The Muskies went into Whitby looking to get win No. 1 in the home opener for the Fury but the home side said no and led by a Daniel Ebrahim hat trick they topped the Muskies 5-0. Christian Stevens also had a large game with a goal and four points. Rookie Will Craig from Ennismore (near Peterborough)  posted the shutout in his second OJHL contest.

The 3 and 0 Dukes were at ScotiaBank Pond to take on the Junior Canadiens and to keep their perfect record intact they needed an overtime goal from Jake Gagnon. Dylan Massie had a pair of goals and an assist for the winners while for the J.C's Chase Spencer had a goal and three points.

Sporting a 2-0 record, the Patriots hosted the Admirals in their home opener at the Westwood but fell by a 6-4 score with the Admirals getting three goals in both the second and third periods after the home side had taken a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes. Kory Silverio had the game winner with just over two minutes left in the contest. He played his last two seasons with the GOJHL's LaSalle Vipers. His elder brother, Manny, who is now at Adrian College, played four seasons with the Vipers. Three of the Patriots four were scored on the powerplay. Before the game the team captain Marcelo Pericao received the OJHL's fan favourite award from last season. He received over 49,000 votes.

Another squad yet to taste defeat, in the West Division the Burlington Cougars welcomed the Milton Menace and despite a determined effort and a strong goaltending performance by 15 year-old goalie Forbes Andersen the Cougars prevailed 4-2. Mitchell Morrison had a large night for the home side with two goals and two assists and he leads the League with 12 points. Dante Jones on a two on one gave the Menace a brief lead early in the second before Keenan Stewart tied it at 2-2 less than a minute later.

The Buffalo Junior Sabres were wanting to bounce back from their opening game loss with the Blades coming in for the evening contest. It was 1-1 after 40 minutes, then in the third Oakville counted three without replay for the 4-1 victory. Two more in this one for Harrison Israels who now has nine points in three games, tied for second in scoring with the Cougars' Harrison Cottam. Said Harrison (the Blades' version): “It was a tough one tonight but we stuck it out and got the two points which is all you can ask for early in the season. It really helps me to play with some strong offensive teammates". There were 30 minor penalties called in this contest but just one powerplay goal by the Blades' Ryan O'Hara.

The Golden Hawks continued their home stand with the Pickering Panthers providing the opposition and they took the 3-1 win. Pennsylvania-born rookie Wyatt George, who captained the Pittsburgh Predators Midget club last season, and sophomore Griffen Fox scored five minutes apart in period two to set up the victory and in the Trenton net Oliver Troop made 25 saves.  

The North York Rangers had no games this week and next week the Burlington Cougars will be idle.

Follow Ron Valentine on Twitter @ronandlynda