First-place Stayner Siskins take on Alliston in finals

 In Sports

Finally, the hockey series that we all have been waiting for has arrived.

The Carruthers Division Junior C regular season’s first place Stayner Siskins versus defending league champions’ Alliston Hornets in the division finals.

The must-watch series was confirmed after Stayner swept Midland in four straight semi-final games and Alliston defeated Penetang in five.

Says Siskins general manager Richard Gauthier, “we are at the place we wanted to be all year. Like we said all year, to be the best you got to beat the best. Alliston has been the best for a long time.”

Alliston, league champions perennially for a decade, and Stayner met six times during the regular season splitting the series; Stayner winning the last three games. Both teams can score at will. Stayner led the league in goals scored, 282, and goals against, 109. Alliston was a close second scoring 248 goals, allowing 109.

Siskins’ Ben Hughes won the league scoring title by a landslide with 46 goals and 56 assists. He was supported by a balanced attack including rookie Zack Trott and Jordan Taylor who notched 35 and 31 goals respectfully. Alliston’s big gun is Drake Board who finished fourth in league scoring with 45 goals and 42 assists. Two Hornets who only played half a season were right winger Stephen Nosad and Minesing’s Ryan Young. Nosad played 22 games and potted 18 goals to go along with 22 helpers; Young was even better scoring 17 times assisting on 34. The other Alliston player to keep your eye on is Devon Gillham. He scores at almost a goal a game clip, sniping for 33 goals in 34 games.

Alliston and Stayner both have solid defencemen and decent goaltending.

Stayner netminders’ statistics are enviable. Eric Pitcher, 1.54 goals against average, two shutouts, and a 13-0 record. Hayden Ford is 17-0 and a 2.90 GAA. Siskins head coach Dave Steele has been playing both goalies, giving the green light primarily to Pitcher during the semi-finals against Midland.

Alliston is backstopped by Mathew Nixon and Mike Masucci. Coach Darrin Shannon has primarily favoured Nixon over Masucci during the playoffs. Masucci’s regular season record was 18-2-1, 2.72 GAA. Nixon didn’t play a regular season game for Alliston. He replaced Chase Krompocker who was released during the playoffs. Krompocker was 16-3.

Gauthier thinks the biggest factor will be goaltending . “Who ever has the best goaltending will win,” he says.

The first game between the two teams was played last night in Stayner.

Unfortunately, the score was unavailable by press time. Game 2 is tonight in Alliston starting at 7:30. Game 3 returns to Stayner, 1:30; Game 4 is Tuesday night in Alliston, 7:30. If the series goes more than four, which most hockey followers expect it to go 7 games, then Game 5 is this coming Thursday in Stayner 8:10; game 6, Friday, March 17 at Alliston; game 7, Sunday, March 19 in Stayner, 1:30.

Says Gauthier, “These players are going to be playing in front of packed houses. The arenas in Stayner and Alliston are going to be full. There will be a lot of intensity.”

Stayner reached the finals by beating Midland 5-2, 7-6 (OT), 5-4 (OT), and 10-3.

Notable from those games were Hughes six assists in the 10-3 game,

Trott’s five-goal performance including the overtime winner in the 7-6 win and Hughes overtime goal in game 3. Local players Kyle Lafreniere and Lucas Jeffery played a big part in the game 3 victory. Lafreniere scored twice and Jeffery assisted on three.

Stayner was not built on a few players. This is a complete team.

Alliston also has a complete team.

Should be a great series!

Alex Hargrave is a financial advisor, enjoys outdoor recreation and is an avid sports fan. He writes about local sports, primarily hockey and baseball. 

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