By Colin Percy

After starting the season playing 5 of the first 6 games at the Nor-Del Arena, the Norwich Merchants kicked off a three-game road trip with a pair of games this past weekend.

On October 11th, the team ventured to New Hamburg to see the Firebirds for the first time on the young season. New Hamburg were all over Norwich in the opening minutes and capitalized on a loose puck in front of the Norwich goal to take a 1-0 lead 3:29 into the game. Norwich settled things down mid-way through the opening frame when Noah Giovinazzo buried his third of the season. Blake Pow gave Norwich the lead in the final minute that was followed up by Ben Cripps tallying one with 3 seconds left as Norwich lead 3-1 after 20 minutes. The Firebirds clawed one back 1:35 into the second and levelled things up with a powerplay goal 4:24 later as Norwich were down a man after a 5-minute major to Alex Sutherland. While still killing that penalty, Cripps intercepted a Firebirds pass and flied down the ice on a break-away only to be hauled down and awarded the exciting penalty shot. Cripps made no mistake out maneuvering Firebird goaltender Isaac Seltzer with a goal that would have made professional players jealous. Norwich killed off the remaining time on the major penalty as they held onto the 4-3 lead after the second period. Pow finished off a nice passing play from Mason Cooper 3:21 into the third. Cooper responded with a marker of his own 3:35 later and Rycol Davis closed out the scoring with 4:55 left as Norwich defeated the Firebirds 7-3. Davis, Riley Baxter (2), Jake Luke (2), Simon Storoschuk (2), Cooper and Brady Van Ymeren notched assists while Josh Silverman made 25 saves to earn his third win of the season. New Hamburg outshot Norwich 28-24 on the night. Norwich were 2 for 3 on the Powerplay while New Hamburg went 1 for 5.

On Saturday Night, the Merchants travelled down Highway 59 to take on their bitter rival Woodstock Navy Vets in the first round of the “Battle of 59”. For the second night running, Norwich got off to a slow start when Woodstock fired a shot home 5:11 into the game a mere 4 seconds into the first powerplay. Luke responded for Norwich when he tipped home a Cole Feeney shot with 1:04 remaining in the first. That goal put Luke atop the Doherty Division goal scoring standings with 12 and second in the province behind Orillia’s Kyle Heitzner who has 14. Norwich continued with their hot powerplay when Pow extended his goal scoring streak to 3 games notching his 10th of the season 13:16 into the second period. The goal light did light up again until the 13:10 of the 3rd period when Woodstock found an equalizer. The deadlock didn’t stay intact long as Mason Cooper restored the lead 28 seconds later that kept his streak of tallying a point in every game this season alive. Sloppy play by Norwich allowed Woodstock to find another equalizer with 4:49 left in the game. Things were looking grim for Norwich as they were sent to the box with 2:07 left, but the boys in red and white flipped the script when Seth Lamoure intercepted a Vets pass and broke in Woodstock goalie Graeme Noye alone making no mistake scoring his 3rd of the year. The Vets pulled the goalie soon after giving them a 6 on 4 advantage, but Norwich’s penalty kill stood strong. Jeremy Bomberry added an empty netter with 2 seconds left to seal Round 1 of the “Battle of 59” for Norwich. Pow (2), Feeney (2) and Sutherland (2) had the assists for Norwich while Silverman made 36 saves in the win. Woodstock outshot Norwich 39-30 on the night. Norwich were 2 for 6 with the man advantage while the Navy Vets went 1 for 6.

With the win, Norwich improved their record to 6-2 which places them in a tie for third place in the Doherty Division with the Navy Vets whose record fell to 6-4. Norwich sit two points behind the 7-1 Tavistock Braves and the 6-1-1-1 Wellesley Apple Jacks.

Norwich will look to create some space between them and the teams directly behind the in the standings during their next two games. On Thursday October 17th, the Merchants close out their road trip when they visit the 4-2-0-1 Ayr Centennials at 7:30pm. Norwich defeated the Cens 6-3 on their home opener back on September 13th. On Friday October 18th, the team returns home to take on the 5-3 Paris Mounties at 8pm whom Norwich defeated 5-3 on September 21st in Paris.

On Saturday, the PJHL will be holding their annual Prospects Day in New Hamburg. Norwich will be represented by defenceman Cam Allen in the showcase.

OVERTIME

The Norwich Merchants will be holding their annual Meet the Players Night on October 25th when they host the Wellesley Apple Jacks at 8pm. Following the game, the players will meet in the blueline club introducing themselves to fans. There are prizes for all kids including a Playstation 4 up for grabs. There will also be autograph sheets for anyone interested.