Win solidifies second place for Stayner Siskins
Stayner Siskins sit firmly in second place in the local Junior C hockey league after beating third-place Huntsville Otters, who were gaining momentum in the standings, 10-5, there last Friday night.
It’s not always good news in the Siskins camp as the night before Stayner lost in overtime, 6-5, to the Caledon Golden Hawks on home ice.
All the same, Stayner, 25-6-3-2, has put together an impressive record since the beginning of November. In the last 23 games, Stayner has only lost once in regulation time, which was an 8-0 blowout against Alliston Hornets Dec. 28. The two teams played again about a week after the massacre and the game was very different with the Siskins winning 3-1.
The victory against Huntsville locked up second place for Stayner meaning the team will always get home ice advantage accept against the Hornets if they play each other. Alliston is perched in first place, six points more than Stayner with a 30-5-1 record. Stayner has four games remaining, two against Alliston, leaving a glimmer of hope that the Siskins can catch the Hornets and gain home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Siskins head coach Steve Walker says, “it’s tough mentally” as the players start thinking about the playoffs later in the regular season. Stayner players were up for the Huntsville game because the Otters were rapidly moving up in the standings.
It shouldn’t be too difficult for the players to get ready for Alliston either. The two clubs face off this Thursday night on Stayner ice and again on Friday, Jan. 30 there. Stayner’s other game is at home against Schomberg this Sunday.
According to Walker, Stayner dominated Caledon last Thursday but the Golden Hawks netminder Sam Procopio was outstanding. Even though Caledon led 1-0 after the first period, Walker felt Stayner could easily have been up 6-0.
It was one of those games where every opportunity Caledon had, they scored and Stayner failed on their chances, he said.
Stayner out-shot the Golden Hawks 45-23.
The good thing is that Stayner rallied from a two-goal deficit at the end of the second by scoring three straight goals in the third. On the bad side, Stayner allowed Caledon to score with 18 seconds remaining in the game, although they did this with an extra attacker to force overtime. Caledon scored after only 57 seconds in the fourth period to steal a victory.
Stayner’s top goal scorer Quinten Bruce scored two and added an assist; Cooper Martin, Dakota Hynes and Derick Robertson notched the others.
Bruce was once again the top point getter in the Huntsville game picking up a goal and three assists. Thus far in the season, he has compiled 24 goals and assisted on 38. He is second overall in league points, three behind Alliston’s Nic Archibald.
A mentally charged team was too much from the get-go for the Otters.
Stayner jumped to a 5-1 first-period lead, slacked off in the second, 7-5 score, and put the game out of reach in the final period by blazing three into the net.
Besides Bruce, Sean Healy and Robertson also picked up four points on the night. Healy scored once and Robertson twice. Other Stayner goals were credited to Kort Weir, Ben Lougheed, Brandon Watson, 2, and Hynes.
