We had a successful Showcase this past weekend at the Western Fair in London.  It officially kicked off the GOJHL regular season.

Here’s what happened this weekend.

Friday

Stratford	3	London	4
St. Marys	2	Brantford	7
Thorold	4	Brampton	2

Saturday

St. Thomas	1	Waterloo	3
Sarnia	1	Ancaster	6
Strathroy	2	Guelph	9
Cambridge	3	Leamington	8
Listowel	2	LaSalle	7
Lambton Shores	6	Pelham	5
St. Catharines	7	Elmira	2
Niagara Falls	3	Chatham	2
Kitchener	6	Fort Erie	2
London	0	Caledonia	6
Welland	5	St. Marys	3

Sunday

Elmira	5	Lambton Shores	4
LaSalle	4	Kitchener	5 DOT
Pelahm	2	Stratford	7
Brampton	3	Sarnia	5
Ancaster	2	Cambridge	0
Chatham	4	Listowel	6
Waterloo	3	Welland	4
Strathroy	0	Thorold	0 DOT
Brantford	3	Niagara Falls	1
Caledonia	5	Guelph	2
Leamington	3	St. Catharines	2
Fort Erie	2	St. Thomas	4

 

Not that the Showcase isn’t important, because every game is, but with interlock games out of the way, now’s to the good stuff.  There’s not a lot this week, but let’s get to it.

I have made a decision though.  Since Matt Latour is covering the Golden Horseshoe for OT Sports Nation, I’ve decided that I’m just covering the West and Midwest Conferences.

Wednesday, September 16

London Nationals vs. LaSalle Vipers, 7:00 Vollmer Centre

At the Showcase, London played Stratford Fri. night, defeating them 4-3, and Caledonia Sat. night, losing 6-0.  On Fri., Stratford had built up a 3-1 lead in the second period, but the Nationals battled back.  London Knights draft pick Max Vinogradov had a big game for the Nats, scoring 1 goal and 1 assist.

LaSalle drew two Midwest teams in Listowel Sat. afternoon and Kitchener Sun. morning.  On Sat., they defeated the Cyclones 7-2, where second year veteran Tyler Russel scored a hattrick with two shorthanded goals.  On Sun., the team suffered a 5-4 DOT loss to the Kitchener Dutchmen.

Thursday, September 17

Lambton Shores vs. Sarnia, 7:10 Sarnia Arena

Lambton Shores split the weekend at the Showcase, defeating Pelham Panthers 6-5 and losing 5-4 to Elmira Sugar Kings.  Ethan Sarfati had a huge weekend for the Predators with 3 goals and 2 assists.  Goalie Anthony Hurtubise played both games making 59 saves in total for the weekend.

Sarnia also split the weekend, losing to Ancaster Avalanche 6-1 Sat. morning and defeating Brampton Bombers 5-3.  Five year GOJHL veteran Ryan Trottier picked up 3 points this weekend.  Rookie goalies Shane Battler and Aidan Hughes each played 1 game, both are Sarnia Sting prospects.

Strathroy vs. Leamington, 7:10 Highbury Canco Arena

The Rockets took a beating Sat. morning from Guelph Hurricanes, losing 9-2, but redeemed themselves Sun. afternoon with the season’s first 0-0 tie against Thorold Blackhawks.  Strathroy had a rough time against Guelph.  The Hurricanes are a strong older team and it was no match for the young Rockets.  On Sun., the team played a good game against Thorold.  Both teams had chances to score and just didn’t capitalize.  Goalies Mat Ouellet and Fraser Kirk both worked hard and deserved the shut out.

On Sat., Leamington easily handled the Cambridge Winter Hawks in an 8-3 win.  Rookie Scott Emerson had a big game for the Flyers with 2 goals and 1 assist.  Goalie Michael Barrett picked up the win.  On Sun., the Flyers took on the St. Catharines Falcons.  St. Catharines was leading 2-1, until Jacob McGhee tied the game with 1:54 remaining.  As the teams thought they were heading to OT, Emerson banged home the winner with 3 seconds left on the clock for a 3-2 Flyers win.

Waterloo vs. Brantford, 7:30 Gretzky Centre

Waterloo’s first game was Sat. morning against St. Thomas Stars.  They beat the Stars 3-1, with goals from Gary Mantz, Brett Schaefer, and Luke Gazzola.  On Sun., the team took on the Welland Canadians.  Welland had built up a 3-0 lead before the Siskins got things going in the 3rd period.  Connor Bodnar scored 2 goals and Austen Bentley 1 goal, but it wasn’t enough as they lost 4-3 to the Canadians.

Brantford had a very successful Showcase this year.  On Fri. night, the 99er’s took on St. Marys Lincolns.  The teams battled hard all game until Brantford broke out in the 3rd period to take the game 7-5.  Sun. afternoon, Brantford played Niagara Falls Canucks picking up another win, 3-1.  Goals for Brantford were Guy Polillo, Kyle Walker, and Ryon Pereira.

Kitchener vs. Guelph, 7:30 Sleeman Centre

Kitchener played Fort Erie Sat. evening.  All they needed was the first period to put the game out of reach for the young Meteors.  Both Alex Demrovsky and Adam Kawalec scored 2 goals on route to a 6-2 win over Fort Erie.  Sun. morning, it was a battle as they took on LaSalle Vipers.  Connor Cole tied the game 4-4 with 9 seconds left in regulation and Kawalec scored the winner, and completed his hattrick, 3 min. into double OT.

Guelph easily handled the young Strathroy Rockets on Sat. morning with a 9-2 win.  Having a big game for the Hurricanes was Cameron Stokes and Corson Searles, both scoring 2 goals and 1 assist.  Goalie Christian Propp, a 16 yr. old draft pick from Barrie Colts, picked up the win in net.  On Sun. night, the team came up against Caledonia Corvairs.  It’s always tough competition when you come up against the Back-to-Back Sutherland Cup Champions.  The Corvairs defeated the Hurricanes 5-2.

 

So there’s 5 games over 2 days.  I will be in Leamington on Thursday.  It will be the Flyers banner raising for their 2014-2015 Western Conference Championship.  Sarnia and Lambton Shores should be a good game being that they’re county rivals.  Kitchener and Guelph should be an excellent game to watch.

Be sure to get out to an arena.  I will be back tomorrow for the first of many profiles this season.  I had a chance to speak to Commissioner Chuck Williams and you won’t want to miss that!

Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images