Stayner Siskins go into playoffs with strong season finish
Alliston Hornets clinched first place last week in the Georgian Mid Ontario Junior C Hockey league despite losing two of three games.
Thursday night at the Stayner rink the Hornets, 31-6-1-1, came to town to battle the second-place Stayner Siskins, the hottest team in the league since Nov. 1.
Stayner prevailed with a 4-3 win and added confidence by beating the league’s number one club.
Siskins coach Steve Walker, who was not behind the bench as he was attending his son’s International Silver Stick game in Michigan, wasn’t surprised by the outcome.
“I’m not shocked by it. I expected it,” he said, noting that the two teams have been very competitive in their games played this year except for one, an 8-0 loss Jan. 2. Since then, Stayner has won their last two meetings.
Stayner’s general manager Richard Gauthier added, “if you don’t finish strong, you don’t start strong in the playoffs”, making reference to Stayner’s strong performance of late and putting more meaning into Friday’s upcoming game against Alliston there.
Stayner, 27-6-3-2, has lost only once in regulation play since Nov. 1, while the Hornets have lost three games in the last nine games, including a 6-5 overtime loss to Fergus Sunday, the one point secured home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Gauthier says the victory over Alliston had “playoff intensity.”
After the first 20 minutes, Alliston held a 2-1 lead, each team replying with a goal in the second. Brandon Watson and Sean Healy came through for the Siskins in the final period, the two shooters clicking for their second goals of the game. Watson’s goal was on the power-play 7:53 into the third to tie the game, and Healy’s goal was in regulation time with about four minutes remaining.
Stayner played Nick Keleher in between the pipes. For a goaltender not having played much in the past two years, the 20-year-old was rock solid between the pipes, blocking 26 shots.
Keleher played for Stayner a few seasons back for part of the season. He has also played Junior C hockey for Fergus and Clarington.
Walker says the team will go with three goaltenders. Last season, the club’s two netminders were injured for the playoffs and the team had to go searching for a third and starting goalie.
Gauthier says the team will dress their full line-up against Alliston.
Stayner’s other win was over the Schomberg Cougars who are in a dogfight with other league teams for fifth place.
Schomberg outplayed Stayner in the first couple of periods, even though the score was deadlocked at 3-3.
Stayner quickly went up 4-3 in the third from a power-play goal by Lucas Jeffery. Shortly after that goal the game changed. A Schomberg player ran Stayner goaltender Trevor Bloch, which created man advantage opportunities. Stayner snipers connected on a couple more to give them a modest cushion in goals. The game got stupid after that. In total, Schomberg was charged with 91 minutes on 24 infractions and Stayner had 89 minutes penalized on 22 infractions.
Scoring Stayner goals were Ricky Darrell, Kyle Lafreniere, Dylan Bursey, Lucas Jeffery with two, Brandon Watson and Trevor Franklin.
Stayner also plays Fergus for their last regular season game at home this season Thursday.
The last couple of games have meaning, despite Alliston and Stayner having locked the top two positions. It’ll be decided this week whether Huntsville or Penetang finish third overall. Numbers five, six, seven and eight positions are up for grabs for Caledon, Schomberg, Fergus, Orillia and Erin. Midland is the only team that is out of the hunt for a playoff spot. The bottom two teams don’t move on.
Finally, Cooper Martin quit the Siskins last week to go play for Tottenham in the outlaw league. He was a point-a-game player. Corey DeRose also quit Midland to go to Tottenham. Enough said.
Finally, I am saddened to write that Larry Sinclair, owner of Highlands Nordic passed away Sunday. My deepest sympathies to his family. Larry had a dream and he followed through with it. Today, Nordic skiing is a major sport in this area. He was respected, not only in this community, but across the country and the globe. We have lost a great man. God bless.
