Another up and down weekend for the Jacks
The Tavistock Braves arrived in Wellesley Jan. 31 looking for payback, but the Applejacks sent them away empty-handed and fuming courtesy of a 5-4 overtime victory.
The longstanding rivalry between the two squads was given an extra edge by the 8-4 pounding the Jacks delivered to Tavistock on Jan. 9. Wellesley fans in the crowd were …Read more
OHA moves to reduce fighting
The age-old debate about whether to eliminate fighting from hockey was reopened last month with the tragic death of Don Sanderson, a 21-year-old defenceman with the OHA’s Whitby Dunlops.
Sanderson died after spending nearly three weeks in a coma, the result of hitting his head on the ice during an on-ice fight with a player from the Brantford Blast …Read more
Kings drop squeaker to Guelph Dominators
It was an exciting game that kept the home fans enthralled from the moment the first puck was dropped until the third-period buzzer sounded, ending a game that, for its full 60 minutes, could have gone either way. Unfortunately for the home side, the Guelph Dominators took the edge Jan. 25, defeating the Elmira Sugar Kings 6-5 in a real nail-biter.
Coming off a 7-5 loss to third-place Listowel (25-11-8) on Jan. 23, the Kings were eager to win one in their own barn.
In a tight battle, the winning goal wasn’t scored until the 19-minute mark of the third frame.
Elmira netminder Jake Williams redirects the puck with his blocker in Junior B action at the Elmira Arena Jan. 25. He faced 39 shots in a nail-biter ultimately won 6-5 by the Guelph Dominators.
“We showed a lot of positives in the first couple periods. I thought we really tested their “D,” and our power play was working, our penalty kill was effective; and in the third period I just thought we got away from that, got away from what our strengths were and what led to success and that’s what cost us,” said coach Geoff Haddaway after the game.
Elmira’s Jarred Parent, who didn’t stop hustling all night, opened the scoring for the home side, combining with Nic MacEachern and Paul Thompson at 7:54.
“I thought we worked really hard, we just couldn’t hold them off in the third period but we had a few lapses. I still think we worked hard,” said Parent.
A short while later …Read more
Green headed for blind curling championships
“Nice shot, Don!” Len Cooper needled his curling opponent at the Granite Club on a recent morning. “Took out [your] two rocks and left us three.”
Studying the rocks after the first end, Ralph Fritz shook his head. “We got wiped by the blind guys,” he grinned ruefully.
Cooper and his curling teammates, Norm Green and Jim Stephens, are all visually impaired. The men are three-quarters of the team heading to the blind curling championships in Ottawa Feb. 1-6. The fourth – and youngest – member of the team, Carrie Speers, was at work Wednesday morning.
Norm Green uses a special stabilizer to keep him balanced as he releases a rock at the Granite Club in Waterloo. The St. Clements resident is skipping Team Ontario 1 in the Blind and Visually Impaired Championship Bonspiel in Ottawa Feb. 1-6.
Green, a resident of St. Clements, will be skipping the team in its second bid for a national title. Last year they lost in the semi-final round, after defeating the eventual winners, Team British Columbia, in round-robin play.
The championship draws teams from across the country; Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick are the only provinces not taking part, and Ontario has two teams in competition.
Green and his crew curl against …Read more
Back-to-back wins for Kings in midweek road trip
After a pair of losses last weekend, the Elmira Sugar Kings turned things around midweek, defeating Welland 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday and dumping Kitchener 7-4 the following night …Read more
Kings unable to hold lead against Siskins
An early lead fell by the wayside as the Sugar Kings eventually fell 5-4 to the visiting Waterloo Siskins Wednesday night.
Despite jumping out in front on first-period goals by Kyle McNeil (Trent Brown, Brent Freeman) and Brown (Josh Ranalli, McNeil) at 2:57 and 19:18 respectively, the Kings were unable to contain a hungry Siskins squad. Waterloo (25-12-3) is sitting in fifth place in the Midwestern Conference, 16 points ahead of Elmira, and 15 points behind the increasingly insurmountable Brantford Golden Eagles.
Philip Teri straight-arms Waterloo’s Tanner Pearson as the two battle for a loose puck Jan. 21. The Kings dropped a 5-4 decision to the Siskins.
But as Elmira’s solid upset win over Brantford revealed last week, any team should be within reach for the local squad. The Siskins had other plans, however.
Waterloo’s Ryan Dilks, from Mark Mantynen and Eric Lekun, potted his team’s first at 1:50 of the second, making a 2-1 game.
Michael Therrien made it 3-1 for Elmira at 10:38, combining on the power play with Philip Teri and Paul Thompson …Read more
Inconsistent play the bane of Jacks’ season
This season the Wellesley Applejacks have often offered up fleeting moments of brilliance, single periods with eager players doggedly determined to reverse their record in what is now, by all accounts, an abysmal season.
Too often, however, those bright moments have quickly faded over the course of an entire hockey game, eventually overshadowed by periods full of consistent errors, a lack of fluidity, and a massive loss of concentration.
Wellesley netminder Luke Zehr kicks out a pad, stopping one of 46 Hagersville shots during a match Jan. 16 at the Wellesley arena. The Jacks lost the game 4-3 in a shootout.
In short, this season the Applejacks have encountered some good moments but little in the way of final results.
“We’ve had a season of good signs, but we’re not putting anything together,” said general manager Dave Litt after his team picked up a win against Ayr (7-4) Jan. 15, a 4-3 shootout loss against Hagersville Jan. 16, and a 6-5 loss to Ayr on Sunday.
Despite snapping a 14 game losing …Read more
Pair of wins has Kings feeling optimistic
Elmira’s Junior B squad were Kings of the weekend, defeating the top-ranked Brantford Golden Eagles (32-6-4) 2-0 Jan. 17, and then downing the Guelph Dominators 5-3 at home the following night.
It was all in all a good weekend for the Sugar Kings who, despite a few slip-ups on Sunday, put in a strong, energetic and ambitious effort in both games.
Sugar King Jeff Zippel carries the puck in Junior B action against the Guelph Dominators Jan. 18 at the Elmira Arena. The Kings won 5-3.
On Saturday, Elmira’s big man, Kyle McNeil, got things going at 14:34 of the first period while on the power play; Josh Ranalli and Brent Freeman, the Kings’ point leader with 58 points (21-37) in 37 games, picked up the helpers.
In the second period the prolific line combined once again to put the game away as Freeman banked one in courtesy of McNeil and Ranalli. From then onwards, the Kings were able to withstand …Read more
Jacks end losing skid in convincing fashion
The Wellesley Applejacks closed the book on a 14-game losing streak last weekend, hammering Tavistock 8-4 on Jan. 9. The Jacks weren’t able to make it two in a row, however, going down 5-3 to Exeter on home ice the following night.
In Friday’s match, the Jacks let loose some of the frustration of the past two months, pounding in pucks at even strength, on the power play and shorthanded. Wellesley built up a 7-0 lead before Tavistock finally climbed on the board near the end of the second period.
Eric Parr wheels after letting off a shot on Exeter’s net Jan. 10. Parr had a goal and an assist during the game, which Wellesley lost 5-3.
The blitz started midway through the first period, when Rob Bolger notched Wellesley’s first goal on a line from Eric Parr and Pat Doyle. A minute and a half later, Ben Jeffries made it two on the power play, with an assist from Dan Berwick.
With four minutes left in the first, and Chris Armstrong in the box for holding, Berwick fed the puck to Matt Snyder, who powered a shorthanded goal into the net. Forty-nine seconds later, Berwick snagged a loose puck, raced down the ice and beat Tavistock’s keeper unassisted for a second shorthanded goal.
The Jacks kept up the momentum in the second period, with Bolger (Doyle) scoring a fast one just 19 seconds in. When Tavistock’s Blair MacKay was handed a roughing penalty, Scott Litt (Mike Moggy, Berwick) converted on the power play at 6:30.
Berwick made it 7-0 for Wellesley at 11:18, knocking in his second goal of the game on a feed from Jeff McAllister …Read more
Jutzi to join prospects game
Elmira Sugar Kings defenceman Jon Jutzi has been tapped to play in the Midwestern conference’s top prospects game Jan. 19.
“He’s an outstanding choice,” said coach Geoff Haddaway. “Jon has had an exceptional start to the season. It’s been pretty …Read more
