Hockey / WEEK IN REVIEW: EX-OHLERS LIGHTING UP OJHL RINKS

WEEK IN REVIEW: EX-OHLERS LIGHTING UP OJHL RINKS

Date:  Source: Ontario Junior A Hockey League

Jalen Balbosa of the Aurora Tigers celebrates his game-winning goal after the Tigers won 7-6 over the hometown Milton Menace Sunday. (Photo by Brian Watts / OJHL Images)

BY RON VALENTINE

A good week in the Ontario Junior Hockey League for the Patriots, Oakville, St. Michael's, Pickering and Wellington who all won both of their games. Milton got five points out of a possible six and Aurora won two games out of three.

THANKSGIVING MONDAY - Five games on tap.

The TORONTO PATRIOTS won 3-1 at home over the MISSISSAUGA CHARGERS with Noah Hippolyte-Smith getting the deciding goal halfway through the first period on a powerplay. A big first period for the winners, outshooting the Chargers 21-4. Captain Marcelo Pericao had two assists. 

The TORONTO JUNIOR CANADIENS on Ben Keon's first OJHL goal edged the NORTH YORK RANGERS 3-2 in overtime. Ben is the grandson of former great Toronto Maple Leaf Dave. Captain Matthew O'Brien had got the home team into the OT with a clutch goal at 19.45 of the third period. Blueliner Stephen Calisti assisted on both goals.

Led by a hat trick from captain Kyle Bollers, his last an empty-netter, the BRANTFORD 99ers took two valuable points at the Appleby arena with a 6-3 decision over the BURLINGTON COUGARS. Bollers played for the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League last season. The 99ers struck for five goals in the final frame. Six wins in a row for them after two defeats against Oakville to open their season. 99ers' GM Darren DeDobbelaer: "I spent a lot of time this summer on looking for character players. I needed to make sure they wanted to win. We've had some tweaks but I feel the team is coming together now and starting to gel."

Andre Anania's shorthanded goal in the second period proved to be the winner as the STOUFFVILLE SPIRIT topped the AURORA TIGERS 5-3. A good second period for the Spirit who scored three unanswered goals courtesy Holden Doggett, Anania and Kingston native Justin Biraben. 

The COBOURG COUGARS saw their losing skid reach five games as they bowed at home to the TRENTON GOLDEN HAWKS 4-2. Wyatt George, a prolific goal scorer for high school and minor hockey clubs in his native Pennsylvania, had the winner, his fifth of the season.

WEDNESDAY - Luke Pavicich's 29-save shutout paved the way for the BUFFALO JUNIOR SABRES to get past the GEORGETOWN RAIDERS 4-0 at the Harborcenter. Nathan Berke had his sixth goal in eight games played for the winners.

THURSDAY - The MILTON MENACE posted their second road win of the season topping the 99ers at the Wayne Gretzky Centre. Aidan Hughes had two goals including the empty-netter, giving him nine on the campaign. The winner was scored by ex-NOJHLer Sam Bourdages. 

FRIDAY - Two goals, his eighth and ninth of the season, from rookie Josh Belgrave led the OAKVILLE BLADES to a 4-1 home ice win against the 99ers. Will Barber stopped 19 shots for the victory. Rookie blueliner Owen Luik had his first OJHL goal and added an assist. Harrison Israels had his tenth goal to tie Jack Ricketts for the team lead. GM Jordan Selinger on Belgrave: "He was a guy we watched closely last season with the Toronto Titans Midget team, loved his compete level and speed. He has been able to make a big contribution offensively and it's been great to see how he has been able to transition to the League."

Blueliner Colin Van Den Hurk posted the game winner as the Golden Hawks got past the MISSISSUAGA CHARGERS 3-1 at the 'Hangar'. Oliver Troop made 28 saves for the win while the 'Hawks had 23 shots on Jack Irvine in the first period and 45 overall. Matt Nastasiuk and Dylan McMahon both notched their seventh goals of the season.

Bryce Sutherland's goal late in the second period was enough to secure the two points for the hometown St. MICHAEL'S BUZZERS as they edged the Rangers 3-2. The winning goal came less than two minutes after former Listowel Cyclone blueliner Jagger O'Toole had put the home side on even terms. The Buzzers' Ben Lawrick, who this week announced his commitment to Williams College in Massachusetts, had two helpers for the winners.

Burlington avenged a shutout loss two weeks ago at the Appleby against the Raiders with a 4-1 win led by two goals, his eighth and ninth of the season, from former London Knight Harrison Cottam and goalie Max Wright was steady in the net saving 25 shots. With wins by the Cougars and Oakville the stalemate remained atop the West with both clubs on 23 points.

Big games from PICKERING PANTHERS' veterans Kevin Stiles and Rocco Andreacchi which enabled them to top the Junior Sabres 4-2. Stiles had two goals and one assist and Andreacchi a goal and four points. Three wins in their last four tries for the surging Panthers. Ty Roberts, recently acquired from Stouffville, got the Panthers off to a fast start with a shorthanded goal.

A hat trick for Frank Vitucci, including a late shorthanded goal, led the WELLINGTON DUKES to a 6-2 home win over the Spirit. Daniel Panetta had two goals and Ben Woodhouse chipped in with three assists. Co-captain Ben Evans on the performances of the Dukes' top two pointscorers, Jake Gagnon and Vitucci: "Neither have been much of a surprise to me. Since day one of training camp I could see what they could do and they deserve everything that is coming to them."

The first road win for the Tigers as they edged the MARKHAM ROYALS 5-4. Both the tying and winning goals came late in the contest from ex- Elliot Lake Wildcat Eric Conley and Jalen Balbosa, respectively. The Minns' brothers, Noah and Caleb, picked up from the Wildcats in the off-season, each had two assists and Noah leads their pointscoring list with 13. Defender Thomas Kloepfer had his first OJHL goal. Zac Sirota had three assists for Markham. Though he did not get the 'W' in his debut goalkeeper Nick Stofcheck, a former Hawkesbury Hawk and most recently with the Corpus Christi Ice Rays of the NAHL made 29 saves. Coach Spencer Hyman noted: "I think that he is going to make a big difference for us."

The COLLINGWOOD COLTS went to the top of the North Division with a 3-1 win over the host LINDSAY MUSKIES. Andrew Suriyuth had the Colts' first goal just two seconds from the end of the opening frame and Will Redick notched the game winner early in the second. It would seem that the final was really 4-1 as per GM Dermot Anderson with Nathan Naves scoring from Justin Kyle and Eric Lalaonde. Suriyuth on the season so far: "Being top is definitely something we have worked towards, we aren't satisfied with being first for now but we want to keep it until the end of the season."

The Cobourg Cougars snapped their losing streak with a 5-2 win over Whitby in a game where they scored three goals shorthanded, two from veteran forward Mac Lowry, GM Adam Yahn: "I will never complain about getting the two points. While we didn't score with the man advantage we are seeing progress. Our second goal was scored just after their penalty expired and was a result of sustained pressure on the powerplay."  

SATURDAY - Onward and upward for the Blades as led by Ryan O'Hara's brace of goals they polished off the Royals 5-2 for their third straight win. With that the Blades moved into top spot in the West, two points ahead of the idle Burlington Cougars and they have now scored 77 goals in 16 games. Vincent Bonaiuto had both Markham gals on powerplays. After the game, O'Hara noted: "If we can continue our current trend I expect that we will make a run for it. It's been a fun start." Royals Head Coach Mike Galati: "We need to start to string a few wins together. Consistency will be the key for this group and we need timely saves as well." Bonaiuto, in the top 10 of OJHL pointscorers: "I'm happy with my start, personally. The results we want will come we just have to keep doing the right things.'

Peter Fleming scored twice and assisted on Ryan Mansfield's game winner for the league-leading Toronto Patriots as they topped Trenton at the Westwood 5-2. The former Barrie Colts has recorded five points in his six games played. Mario Peccia had to be active to record the win, making 47 saves, 21 of those in period three where the 'Hawks Jared Gerger scored with half a minute remaining in the contest. For the Toronto club that's five wins in a row.

At 'Pink in the Rink' night in Georgetown, the Menace upset the Raiders 3-2 in overtime. Former Burlington Cougar Aidan Hughes with the decider. Of their four wins three have come on the road. Milton, winners of two in a row for the first time this season, are now tied with the Junior Sabres for fourth spot in the West. C. J. Clarke had a goal for the winners and assisted on the other two giving the veteran former OHLer nine points from just five games.

The Fury recorded a 7-4 win over the BRAMPTON ADMIRALS led by a six-assist performance by Ethan Doyle, September's 'Warrior' South-East player of the month. With the six points, Ethan vaulted into second place in OJHL pointscorers with 26. Nathan Porter and Riley Girard each had two for the visitors and Christos Rodis netted his eleventh and twelfth goals for the home side. Whitby's powerplay was on form scoring three times on five opportunities. The Admirals, struggling of late, have now dropped their last four.

It took an overtime goal, his second of the season, by ex-Muskie Brandon Leeking for the Panthers to edge the Spirit 3-2 in Stouffville. Captain Connor May sent the game into overtime with his team-leading seventh goal of the campaign. Nathan Gooch got the Panthers up 1-0 and assisted on the game winner. Pickering now trail the third place Spirit by five points in the North but they do have four games in hand.

The game in Port Credit with the Chargers hosting the Junior Canadians had to be abandoned after 10 minutes of play due to unsafe ice conditions, there was no score at the time.

SUNDAY - Five games on the schedule and three teams would win while scoring seven goals.

It was an opening period of firsts for the Tigers in Milton with Alex Sebestyen and James Passafiume scoring their first OJHL goals. If you like to see scoring then Thompson Street was the place to be. Bryce Young got two, his second one shorthanded, within a minute early in the second frame to give Aurora a 5-2 lead at that point. The teams split a dozen goals over forty minutes before a scoreless third sent the game into extra time and the Tigers' Jalen Balbosa secured the extra point early in the second session. Young, a native of The Pas MB who had a 100+ point season for the Red Lake Miners of the SIJHL, ended up with five points.

Sebastian Labora repelled 36 shots as the Buzzers bounced the Admirals 7-0. Finn Brown's two markers moved him up to 12 for the season and Thomas Sinclair also had two. Ayrton Martino and Ryan Alexander both contributed three assists to the winning cause and Jonah Alexander's one goal and three points put him in second place in OJHL pointscorers with 27.

Wellington upped their winning percentage to .794 and joined Trenton on top of the East Division on 27 points with a 2-1 squeaker over Lindsay. Dawson Ellis's goal stood up until the middle of the second period when Adam Miwa put the Muskies level his team-leading fifth goal, a good start for the 18-year old OJHL rookie. A true 'buzzer-beater' by Brandon Brazeau in his second game since coming in from Markham gave the Dukes the two points with four seconds left in the game. A big win for Wellington and another 'so close' moment for the Muskies. 

Wins have not come easy for the Rangers this season but they chalked up number four with a 7-4 decision over the 99ers, who went one for four this week. Myles Perry had the hat trick and four points and Cole Tucker two goals and an assist and Austin Brimmer had a pair also. Tyler Flack had four helpers and Cole O'Hara three as the home side broke out for it's biggest single game goal production of the season. Jake Partridge scored twice for Brantford. Cole Tucker on Perry: "He has a goal scorer's mentality. When he gets the puck in a good spot he doesn't second guess himself, it helps that he has a nice shot too."

The Junior Canadiens, on a five-game winning streak, hosted the Cougars of Cobourg. Thomas Munro and Michael Olszewski had goals a minute apart in the second period to get the Cougars rolling. Nick Aromatario made it a 3-1 score early in the third but the J.C's got two quick ones from Ryan Tverberg on a penalty shot and Thomas McKeown. Overtime No. 28 in the OJHL this season and it's tie number six in the 3-3 final. The second tie this season for the Cougars. 30 saves for the J.C's Christian Mattiace and 41 for the Cougars' Dershahn Stewart.

Follow Ron Valentine on Twitter @ronandlynda